


Of Madness and Love

by KeyWillow8626



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: And of course plenty more characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-16
Updated: 2016-11-19
Packaged: 2018-08-31 10:02:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 30,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8574028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KeyWillow8626/pseuds/KeyWillow8626
Summary: Because Jefferson needs a love-interest and the madness will never end anyway.Madness and Love - same thing, really. At least as far as they're concerned. And they don't care what other's are concerned about.  ===================Some of you may recognise this as a story from FFnet, and if you do, be a dear and double check the author-names on both sites before you start complaining. Spoiler: they're the same.





	1. Chapter 1

”Back again, I see.”

Jefferson jumped slightly and swirled around only to relax again. ”Oh, it’s you.”

”Indeed I am me, who else would I be?” The girl grinned and took a few steps forward, closing in on the distance between them. 

”The Queen’s men.” He shrugged as the girl inched even closer. ”I’m afraid I’m not exactly on her best side at the moment.”

”Why?” She finally stopped right in front of him, their bodies so close that they could feel each others breaths on their faces. ”Did you steal something again?”

”It’s not like the Queen was using it.” He defended. ”And I have a buyer who most definitely will.”

”Thief.” She grinned even wider, not at all perturbed. ”The Red Queen would have your neck.”

”At least it isn’t the Queen of Hearts, who would have my head.” He grinned equally wide back at her. ”Though I suppose in the end it doesn’t matter. They won’t catch me, see if they don’t.”

”No one ever does.” The girl nodded, agreeing. ”A thief you may be, but a good one at that. All slippery and quick. I suppose you’ll be leaving now then?”

”Well.” Jefferson pretended to think it over, hand on chin and tilting his head. ”The Hare did invite me to tea.”

”Oh, and we mustn’t decline the Hare his tea, must we now?” The girl gasped as if this was the most atrocious thing to do. ”As it happens, I too was invited.”

”Were you now?” He looked surprised at the coincidence though the glint in his eye gave him away. ”Well, a few more hours couldn’t hurt.”

”What of the Queen?” She tilted her head.

”I don’t think she was invited.”

”No.” She smiled. ”She never is.”

=======================================================================

Jefferson had been a traveler between worlds for as long as he could remember (which in fairness wasn’t that long; he never bothered to remember much, it wasn’t the past that mattered so much as the present, he always said) and he had seen many strange things and met upon many strange people. Wonderland was among the strangest yet it had always been a bit of a favourite; not so much because of the land, but because of Alice.

Alice wasn’t born in Wonderland, rather had stumbled upon it by accident when she was small and had simply never left. When he asked about it she simply said ”my life before wasn’t living, but this here is a lively life” and that was that. She never elaborated beyond that and he never asked; everyone is entitled to their secrets, it’s what makes it so much fun. 

He wasn’t too clear on what exactly Alice did in Wonderland, she seemed to merely wander, but she was always doing something or other. When he first met her, on his second trip to Wonderland back when he was a young teenager, she had been sitting right in front of his door. With her legs crossed in a meditative state right in front of the doorframe she was singing, of all things.

”…little children, The time's come to play,  
Here in my garden of shadows.

Follow sweet children, I'll show thee the way,  
Through all the pain and the sorrows.  
Weep not poor children, For life is this way,  
Murdering beauty and passions.

Hush now dear children, It must be this way,  
To weary of life and deceptions.  
Rest now my children, For soon we'll away,  
Into the calm and the quiet.

Come little children, I'll take thee away,  
Into a land of enchantment.  
Come little children, The time's come to play,  
Here in my garden of shadows.”

He didn’t know what children exactly she was singing to but it gave him goosebumps listening. It was beautiful and terrifying all at once and he couldn’t move. And then, once she was finished, she simply turned her head and asked him what he thought of her voice as if she’d known he was there all along. Later, he’d speculated that she had been waiting for him, sitting where she was, but had never asked. Unbidden she had latched on to him and announced herself his guide and she’d stuck by him the rest of his visit, and then the visit after that, and the one after that… she always seemed to know when he was there and she never let him down. 

Wonderland was dangerous though, and Alice had a knack for making enemies, as well as friends, at the most inopportune moment. The Queen of Hearts wanted her head, for what she never said, but the Red Queen seemed to think of Alice as her baby sister, spoiling her rotten. That damned Caterpillar, the boss around the Undergrowth, had a price on her head but his best bounty hunter, the former Knave of Hearts, viewed the girl as an apprentice of sorts, teaching her tricks and skills whenever Jefferson saw them together. 

Yes, he’d seen many strange places and met many strange people, but Alice was by far his favourite. Although he’d never tell her that. 

=======================================================================

A tea party with the Mad March Hare and the Doormouse always ended in chaos, actually no, it started and lasted in chaos. And it was always amped up further by Cheshire showing up; alternating between trying to eat the Doormouse and stealing all the sugar cubes. 

Alice loved it. One had to learn to duck fairly quickly and the cherry pastries were lethal but otherwise it was brilliant. The Hare had been catering this tea party for near a decade now and he didn’t seem inclined to stop any time soon; there was always someone in the mood for tea somewhere, right? 

”Would you like some milk, Alice?” The Hare asked politely.

”Just a drop or two, if you please.” She held up her cup. Politeness was ever so important in Wonderland, it could mean the difference between keeping your head and loosing it (in the literal sense), even in the face of a mortal enemy was politeness to be preferred above all else. 

The Hare geared up, standing on top of his chair, and lounged out with the milk decanter. The milk was spattered all over the table but Alice managed to catch a few strands into her cup before saluting the Hare in thanks.

”Oh, what a waste.” She heard a sigh to her left and turned to face her sometimes-friend-sometimes-frenemy Cheshire. ”Such good milk, all gone.”

”Don’t be a martyr, Chesh.” She rolled her eyes. ”Have some lemon tarts.”

”Tarts!” The Doormouse yelled in agreement and flung some over from her side of the table.

Jefferson laughed, in a slightly unhinged way as in all thing things Jefferson, and caught one in his mouth. 

”Whoop, ten points for the Hatter!” Alice cheered while the Hare banged two tea trays together like a cymbal, not at all caring that they were breaking. 

”All this cheeriness is too much for me.” Cheshire sighed again, apparently in a mood today, and whisked off into nothingness.

”Well, someone got up on the wrong side of the litter today.” The Hare harrumphed, as if insulted, and stuffed a spoon into his mouth.

Their decade long tea party was catered on top of not less than fifteen different tables, all in a row, placed in a half open grove right by the road. Anyone passing, be it the Queen’s guard (the Queen of Hearts that is, the Red Queens land didn’t stretch this far east of Snuff) or the Tweedles, were invited to join. After all, politeness is key, and you can’t be fighting your enemies while having tea at the same time, it’s simply rude; therefore you had to wait until the tea party was over to fight, which it never was. As such; no fighting between enemies in the grove or in the immediate area. 

Which is why, when a gaggle of the Queens guard could be seen approaching on their horses further down the road, nobody panicked. 

”Ooh, look.” The Hare stuttered in excitement. ”Company.”

Alice giggled as he tried to see the guards as well as keep his eye on his tart, thereby going all criss crossed, and they all waited for the men to ride up to them. 

”Hello, gents.” She greeted, all cheers and niceness. ”Care for some tea?”

The man in the front climbed of his horse and removed his helmet. It was no one they recognised; then again, they barely recognised each other on a bad day so that really wasn’t saying much. Besides, the Queen of Hearts had so many men, she never seemed to run out. 

”You loons, sitting here as always.” The man spoke with a cruel laughter but stopped as he heard Jefferson laugh along.

”Drip drop, goes the tea.” Jefferson started, grinning like a mad man, and the guard looked unnerved. ”Drink it by the tumtum tree.”

”Ever the party shall go on.” The Hare jumped up on the table, scattering cutlery everywhere, and kicked away a muffin for every word he spoke (or rather screamed) at the guard.

”Until there is no one left to sing this song!” Alice finished the rhyme by pitching her tea cup toward the still seating guards who all ducked in fright, before the inhabitants at the table all burst into manic laughter.

The guard looked at them like they were crazy, which really… it’s not like they were hiding it or anything. 

Jefferson stood up and walked over to him, probably slightly closer than the guard was comfortable with, and held out his hands. ”Cherry pastry?”

The man smiled uneasily before accepting the small treat and then walking backwards, rather quickly, from the Hatter and mounted up on his horse again. ”Can’t stay, apologies, errands for the Queen and all.” He looked rather relieved saying that and then they were off again.

”Humph, at least the Red Queens men always stay for tea.” The Hare seemed greatly perturbed at this, as if by not staying they had offered great insult. 

”Cherry?” Alice smiled at Jefferson as he walked back to his seat. ”And he seemed such a promising guard.”

”Yes.” The Doormouse stood up with her hand mockingly at her heart, as if saying goodbye to a good friend. ”A great loss.”

They all wiped away imaginary tears before bursting out into giggles again. After all, he can’t have been a very smart guard if he didn’t know that Cherry was lethal. Everyone else knew. Well, the ones sitting at the table did. So really, only four-five people. 

Whatever. He had been rude. And rudeness is simply not tolerated, this is Wonderland after all. 

=======================================================================

Alice had been in Wonderland for a very long time. So long in fact that she couldn’t really remember how long. She had a distinct impression of a before, before Wonderland, and in her deeper dreams and daydreams she could see it but it never bothered her. Wonderland was her home now; she knew it like her own heart, and her heart knew many things. 

Upon first arriving in Wonderland she had gotten on the wrong side of the Queen of Hearts. The Queen had offered her something and she had declined. Alice lost her head the day she declined. Or rather, lost her body. She knew where her head was, it was her body that was gone. The Queen had ordered the axe to fall, which it did, and for the longest time Alice only had her head. The Queen had kept her, like a bust, on a mantelpiece in an empty room for quite some time and during that time the only visitor she had was the Queen. Eventually the Queen ordered her head back onto her body and a few (rather many, actually) stitches later Alice was whole again. This time the Queen offered the same thing, only instead of threatening separation between body and head, she threatened separation between body and heart.

Alice spit in her face, stole a sword from one of her guards, chopped the Queens own head off and then ran like crazy. Naturally the Queen got herself sewn back together rather quickly but she seemed to take her new dashing scar as somewhat an affront and had been after Alice since. Some people really knew how to hold a grudge. 

Shortly after Alice met the Red Queen, ever so different yet the same as the Queen of Hearts, and the two got on splendidly. The Red Queen was equally as dark and manipulative as the first Queen Alice ever met but somehow it was not the same. She thought Alice was adorable, being barely nine years old at the time, and treated her as a sister. Alice knew, if she had nowhere else to go, the Red Queens castle would always be safe.

She had not stayed with her new friend for too long though, eager to see more of this fantastical Wonderland, and had wandered off into the wilderness. She made new friends and new enemies along the way and earned a bit of a name for herself and so had she lived her life for years.

Eventually she stumbled across stories of a doorway that had no house and she got curious. Determined to find out more she tracked it down and had decided to keep a watch on it to see what would happen; it was a doorway after all, so it stood to reason that someone or something would come through at some point. Because everything had a point in Wonderland, and if you knew how to read the world correctly you could figure them out, those points that seemed to elude others. Even the nonsensical and meaningless had a point if only to be nonsensical and meaningless. As such, a doorway, being a doorway, would have to be a door. Possibly a window. Maybe a shoe. Expect nothing and believe in everything; that was the way to live in Wonderland.

And so Alice waited. And waited. And waited some more. 

And then the waiting was over. 

And Jefferson fit right in with this strange world and its wonders. And, perhaps more importantly, he fit right in with her. 

=======================================================================

Jefferson had asked her. Not intentionally or planned or really thought through. It just slipped out. But then again, he had always been the impulsive type.

”Come with me.”

They had known each other for years, loved each other even. But they had never given much thought to it; it simply was so, no fuss about it. They were roughly the same age, although Alice could never be to sure how old she was as time was temperamental in Wonderland, and had roughly the same interests. Roughly. They had kissed. Nothing spectacular, nothing expectantly, it just seemed natural. Personal space was never an issue for them, they were always touching when they were together; holding hands, Alice hopping onto his back without a care, hanging of each others shoulders, fiddling with the others’ hair… never ending touching. It was simply natural to move on to further areas. 

They couldn’t imagine life without the other. True love, the Doormouse had sighed all starry eyed before biting the Hare in rabid rage for stealing her ginger fudge. They didn’t argue. 

He had asked her. They were walking; Alice was skipping along to the trumpet flowers as they played their music, all the while dodging the dragonflies shooting fire from above. They were heading nowhere in particular, just walking along the road. Jefferson had watched as Alice swirled to a high note and it had just escaped his mouth; no permission whatsoever from himself, it just jumped out. 

He didn’t regret it. He wanted it.

She hadn’t stopped dancing. At first he thought she didn’t hear it. Then she twirled over to him and grabbed his hands.

”Only if you dance with me right now and promise me that the madness will never end.”

Madness. Love. Same thing.

The Rabbit dug another hole for her, just like the one that had brought her to Wonderland in the first place. He owed her for getting his family back to him from the Queen of Hearts’ dungeons during a casual break-in while she was bored. Jefferson traveled through his hat. Alice through her rabbit hole.

She didn’t say goodbye. She hadn’t the first time around either.

The first thing she saw as she tumbled and climbed and fell all at the same time out of the rabbit hole, was Jefferson waiting for her, hat on head and smile on face.

”Welcome to the Enchanted Forest.”

=======================================================================

The Enchanted Forest was very different. Both from Wonderland and from her birth place. There were trees everywhere! 

Jefferson guided her patiently toward his house, a hut really, as she pointed and demanded explanations for the most inane things. Then again, this was a girl that had basically grown up in Wonderland, to her there was no such thing as ”inane”. 

At last they reached his house/hut. 

”What is this?” Alice paused, intrigued. ”It is a house! With windows! Look, even a doorway! The most house-iest house I’ve ever seen!”

”Not a word.” He said in a sing-song voice before gesturing before himself. ”This is my house.”

”You have a house?” She seemed very confused by the idea.

”Yes, it is right in front of you.”

”But you said house.” She repeated.

”Yes?” Jefferson asked, wondering what she was on about. 

”House. Not home. House.” She looked at the hut, then back at him, then again at the hut. ”Why bother with a house if it is not your home?”

”Well, it’s not like I’ve ever spent much time there.” He shrugged as if that explained everything. 

”So bother with it? If you don’t spend time in it and it’s not your home?” She scrunched up her face, rather cutely he thought. ”What a waste of a house.”

”It’s not a waste! I do live in it.” He briefly wondered why it was such a big deal but shook it off. ”Just not that often.”

”But if you do live in it, why isn’t a home?” Was it just Jefferson or were they going around in circles?

”I just… it’s just… everyone has houses!” Trust Alice to throw him off so completely, she’d always had that effect, but then again, that’s why he liked her so much. He was never bored with Alice around, and boy does he hate boredom. 

”Hm.” She studied him like she didn’t trust him then turned back toward the disputed house. ”I suppose we’ll just have to make it ’home’ then.” She said with finality and then skipped up to the building and invited herself in.

Jefferson stood there, flabbergasted with open mouth, feeling like he’d lost an argument without actually realising they were having one before shaking himself out of it with a goofy grin. He was really glad she was here; it was already feeling more of a home. 

=======================================================================

Jefferson still had work to do, still had objects to steal/find/locate/liberate, whichever fitted the bill, and so his life continued much in the same fashion it had before but with one big difference. He had someone waiting for him.

He never had that before. Sure, someone was always waiting for his services, but never for him. Yet Alice waited. Always. She spent her days in his house/hut, befriending his neighbours, waiting for him. 

She kept herself busy too. Every time he left and every time he returned; the house looked different. Small things really; a flowerpot here, a table cloth there, maybe a colourful doormat one morning, and so on. She even started on a small garden outside the house, mostly herbs, but still. Slowly but surely she was making good on her promise to make it a ”home”. 

He sometimes worried that she’d get bored, having basically grown up in Wonderland where things were always changing and always in motion, but it had been nearly a year and she showed no such signs. She had taken to the Enchanted Forest much like she probably had Wonderland; in stride and comfort. 

Jefferson slowly found himself wishing his trips to be shorter, his errands faster, just so that he could come home to her all the quicker. It wasn’t the house that made the home, he speculated one day, but the person waiting on the other side of the door. She was his home. 

=======================================================================

Alice loved the Enchanted Forest. Adored it, really. It was so unusual from everything she had known previously. 

She loved the homemaking she was doing too. In Wonderland you didn’t get to do a lot of homemaking, mainly because whatever you changed tended to change again eventually and you never knew what the day held in store when you woke up in the morning, it was too full of wonders and fantastical events to able to get that cosy ”home” feeling you’d normally expect. But in the Enchanted Forest? Everything had an order, a place, a routine even. Sure, unexpected things happened, it always does, but they weren’t nearly as unexpected as what you’d see in Wonderland. She quickly got the hang on life in this new world and though it was so very different it was amazing.

She made a point of not just staying inside the house all days, rather she left to explore and see this new world. She followed the path to the nearest village; discovering the marketplace, which she loved, and met all these new people, again so very different from Wonderland. To begin with, they were all people, not talking animals or objects with sentient minds. And they were friendly, though some lacking that politeness she had come to expect, and she made it part of her new routine to speak to anyone who spoke back and get to know them. This was also very useful in order to gather information and to hear news of what lies beyond the village. 

This new world was equally as big as her old one and though she felt rather at home in Jefferson’s house and its immediate surroundings she was still curious about it. Curiosity was, in effect, her superpower; it’s how she always lived and it hadn’t let her down so far. Maybe, when Jefferson got back from his latest job, he could show her around a bit more. 

Speaking of which…

”And the gallant knight returns!” Jefferson thrust open the door and jumped inside with flourish. ”Did you miss me?”

Alice grinned and dropped the dress she had been sewing onto the floor, not caring if it got dirty, and rushed up to him. With a running leap she jumped into his arms and hugged him dearly and tight before letting up and looking him in the face, their noses so close they nearly touched.

”Not at all.”

Jefferson gave a playful grimace. ”Oh, you wound me.”

”If so then you deserve it.” She kicked him lightly in the chin, not a mean feat considering she was standing on her tippy toes. ”You said three days. It’s been a week.”

”Yes, I did, didn’t I?” The grimace this time was real and he hugged her tighter. ”Complications, boring, not important, I’m home now.”

”Are you.” She smiled hopefully. ”Home, I mean?”

”Oh, yes. I am.” He gave her the brightest smile she had ever seen, making her fall all that much more in love with him. ”This is home.”

She giggled and wrapped her legs around his waist, leaving the ground completely, and gave him the sweetest kiss she could manage. 

”That it is, my madness, that it is forever.”


	2. Oz - part one

Alice wandered about aimlessly, simply following the weird yellow brick road that she’d found without concern. She was busy trying to figure out exactly how she’d gotten… wherever it was she were and how to get back home to Jefferson. That twister had to have been the weirdest weather phenomenon ever! There she’d been, just minding her own business foraging for herbs and mushrooms in the forest when suddenly the wind had picked up and before she knew what was happening she was swept off her feet. And now, she didn’t know where she was. Certainly not the Enchanted Forest, that was for sure. 

”Hello.” She suddenly heard a voice to her right speak up solemnly, making her startle.

There was no one. To her right there was a field of wheats growing but there was no one there; only a sad looking scarecrow. To her left was a tree line, although what kind of trees were growing there she couldn’t tell; they looked far too differently from any she’d seen before.

”Hello?” She answered uncertainly. 

”Up here.” The voice spoke again.

Alice turned and gave a yell of surprise. ”Whoa!” 

”Yes, here.” The Scarecrow waved lazily. 

”Hello.” She smiled befuddled. ”I wasn’t aware that you were alive.”

”Of course I am.” The Scarecrow huffed. ”I’m a Scarecrow.”

”I can see that.” Alice nodded and stepped closer to the field. She’d seen stranger things in her life so she wasn’t going to question a living scarecrow. ”But if you’re alive, why are you hanging there? Why not walk off somewhere? It can’t be too comfortable.”

”Where?” Was he shrugging? Yes, Alice realised, he was. ”This is a scarecrow perch and I am scarecrow, where else would I be?”

”I suppose that is a good point.” She conceded. ”What is your name?”

”Scarecrow.” Was the simple answer.

”Yes, I know. But what is your name?” She asked again.

”…scarecrow?”

”You don’t know your name?” She hesitated. ”Or perhaps you were never given one?”

”Who gives names?” The straw filled man asked curiously. ”I’ve heard the munchkins talk about these… names, but I do not know what they are precisely.”

”Munchkins?” Alice mumbled confused before again focusing. ”It is what other people call you. You know, if someone wants to call out to a friend in a crowd they can’t very well just call out ’hey, friend!’, that wouldn’t work.”

”But there is no crowd here.” The Scarecrow made a recklessly sweeping motion with his arm, making some straw fall out. ”And no one to call out to.”

”But I am here, and so are you.” She answered. ”And everyone and everything must have a name, it’s only polite.”

”How is it polite?” He seemed utterly confused.

”But just think about it; not being able to call out your name in a crowd, if ever you find yourself in one, how distressing would that not be for someone like me?” Alice nodded along with herself.

”Someone like you?”

”Yes, like me. Who else would call out but not me? Do you see anyone else around here?” Alice gestured around them. ”Obviously.”

”But what would a name be? What is yours?”

”Alice.” She smiled. ”Alice Dorothea Kingsleigh. Although I don’t much like that last one.”

”You do not look like an Alice.” The Scarecrow shook his head.

”How do you mean?” Alice scrunched her face up. ”Most people say I do.”

”Well, I don’t.” He nodded fiercely. ”What was the other one? Not the one you didn’t like, the one in the middle.”

”Dorothea?”

”Yes, that one. But shorter, not so many sounds.” He contemplated. ”I know, I shall call you Dorothy; pleasantly short and rhyming.”

”How is it rhyming?” She asked before shaking her head. ”And my name is Alice, that is what I am called.”

”Well not by myself. I am the one to call out, am I not?” He tilted his head. ”So I get to decide what to call out. It’s only polite.”

”…I suppose that makes sense?” She phrased it like a question. ”But then I get to name you, do I not? Since I’ll be calling out?”

He simply nodded.

”How about Crow?” She wondered. ”You are a scarecrow after all. And I can’t very well be calling you Scare, that’s ridiculous. But Crow, that has a nice ring to it.”

He thought for a while before nodding approvingly. ”It suits me.”

”That it does.”

=====================================================================

”What is it like?” Alice asked suddenly.

Crow had eventually climbed down from his perch (unsteadily and carelessly) and sat down by the road next to Alice, or Dorothy as he proclaimed was her name now. They had simply been chatting along, about nothing of any real worth, and Dorothy had been gazing up at the clear blue sky wishing for clouds. Not many, mind you, just a few small fluffy clouds that would take impossible shapes in the sky to be guessed by her before they changed shape yet again.

”What is what like?” Crow leaned back on his elbows.

”Being a scarecrow?” She looked at him. ”I imagine it would be different from being a human.”

”How would I know, I’m not human.” He shrugged.

”Good point.” She conceded. ”Well, what do you do all day long? When I was not here.”

”Were you not always here?” He gazed at her. ”I can’t recall.”

”No, I was only here since a short while ago.” She shook her head. ”I was brought to this land in the strangest of fashions only just a few hours ago.”

”Wherever were you before?”

”Another land.” She looked at the sky again. ”I miss it already, even though I haven’t been here too long.”

”Well, you would.” He nodded. ”Anyone would miss their home.”

”It wasn’t always.” She looked back at him. ”Before then I lived someplace else, and even before then someplace else again. Though I did not like it, that first place.”

”What of the second?”

”That I liked. But the third was by far the best.” She felt her heart constrict. ”Do you suppose there is anyway for me get back there?”

”I do not know, I’m a scarecrow you know. I never know much of anything.” He sighed deeply, as if this affliction was troubling him. ”Sometimes I wish I knew more.”

”It’s not always a good thing, knowing more. Though I suppose knowing less would be just as bad.” She sighed too. ”Are there other scarecrows? Do they know less too?”

”Oh, there are a few.” He shrugged again. ”Not very talkative though, rather boring bunch really, and they loathe movement, preferring to stand still at their perches and pretend.”

”Pretend what?” Dorothy asked curiously. What on earth would a scarecrow pretend?

”That they are less than they are.” He sighed again. ”While I wish I was more.”

”Maybe there is a way for you to be more?” She wondered out loud. ”Where I come from, both second and third, we have this thing called magic. It can do plenty of things; making less into more should be easy.”

”Magic?” Crow tasted the word. ”I think I’ve heard of this. Maybe it can get you home too.”

”If I can find it.” She shrugged. ”I do not know this land, I don’t know where to look.”

”Maybe the Emerald City.” He suggested. ”I’ve never been, obviously, but I’ve heard of it. The munchkins speak of it.”

”What is a munchkin anyway?” She smiled.

”Not me and not you.” He said in a matter of fact manner.

”No, certainly not.” She laughed. ”And where is this Emerald City?”

”Just follow the Yellow Brick Road.” He pointed. ”It goes from Munchkin Land, where we are now, to the Emerald City. It’s the only road we have.”

Dorothy stood up and dusted her dark blue and brown dress off. ”Well, then I suppose I will.”

She looked back at him, her first friend in this strange land, and reached out with her hand. ”Come on, maybe we can find you someone to make you more.”

”Well, I doubt they can make me less.” He took her hand with his straw fist and pulled himself up. 

”You know.” She started as they turned toward the road she had walked along just a few hours earlier. ”I think, that just by following me away from your perch and into unknown places, you already are more.”

”Certainly more than I was before. I even have a name now. That’s more than any other scarecrow before me.” He squared his shoulders proudly.

”Then lets go an extra mile, and make you even more more than ever before.” She smiled and they started down the brick road; arms linked at the elbows and nearly skipping. She’d find her way back to Jefferson, no matter what. Because she was Alice and she needed her Madness. 

=====================================================================

Oz. That’s what it was called, this strange new land she’d somehow found herself in. She explained to Crow how exactly she came to be in Oz and he told her that twisters were a common sight in Oz though probably not one quite like that. 

He told her of many things he’d overheard from his scarecrow perch, mostly from munchkins passing by. They actually met a few munchkins, heading in the opposite direction, but they didn’t stop to chat. They looked a lot like children and were a very cheery bunch. They’d practically danced their way passed them and aside from a few sing-song greetings they ignored their fellow travellers. 

That is not to say that all people they met on the Yellow Brick Road ignored them. And of course, that is not to say that all the people they met on the road were actual people. 

”Well, that is certainly something I’ve never seen before.” Dorothy stopped walking to look upon the strange sight. ”A statue, I suppose.”

”It is not a scarecrow, I can tell you that.” Crow nodded along. 

The statue, as it turned out, wasn’t actually a statue at all. This proven as it moved.

”Oh, not a statue then.” Dorothy leaned in closer. ”But still made of of metal.”

”Tin, actually.” The not-statue spoke, turning his head sharply toward them, making them jump.

”A Tin-man.” Dorothy nodded as if this was nothing unusual. ”This truly is a land unlike any other.”

”Is it?” The Tin-man asked while trying to get his arms to move in spite of their stiffness. ”Do you have experience with such things as other lands to be making comments like that?”

”Oh, I do. Several. And in none of them would you have seen any such as you.” She nodded before pausing briefly and gesturing towards Crow. ”Or him, really.”

”I say, what is your name?” Crow asked, proud to be able to ask, as he hopped closer to their new friend. ”Mine is Crow and this is Dorothy.”

”Not technically but never mind.” She sighed as she too stepped closer. The Tin-man had managed to breathe life into his limbs again and was waving his left arm like a windmill to ease up his movements.

”Name?” He said thoughtfully. ”I’m sure I used to have one, once, but I can’t for the life of me remember it.”

”Not many to call out for you, then?” Crow tipped his head sympathetically. ”Neither did I until Dorothy came along.”

”I suppose we could give you a new one.” Dorothy put her hand on his shoulder in a comforting gesture. Crow put his finger to his mouth and tapped thoughtfully.

”Were you always a Tin-man? I was always a scarecrow though I long to be more but Dorothy wasn’t always a Dorothy and now she longs to be home. Are you what you always were? Do you long for something as well?”

”Oh, goodness, no. I wasn’t always so silvery though I carry no regret for it. Though I suppose, longing for longing’s sake, I too wish I could sometimes be more.” He shook his head sadly. ”Or perhaps less. Less tin and more heart. I do so ever miss my heart.”

”Your heart?” Dorothy asked, thinking back to her time in Wonderland and the Queen of Hearts. ”Wherever did you put it to be able to miss it?”

”I am not sure I put it anywhere.” He shook his head. ”I just don’t feel it like I used to. Before the tin.”

”However would one go about becoming a Tin-man, though, I’m curious?” Crow asked, hand on chin and face scrunched up as if trying to think a particularly elusive thought. 

”Oh, I was cursed.” He answered nonchalantly, as if it didn’t matter too much. ”By the Good Witch of the South, you see.”

”Why?” Dorothy wondered.

”I can’t really remember anymore. I think I angered her somewhat, though I can’t tell you for sure. My life before the tin is rather blurry. I don’t mind though, I rather like the tin.” He smiled stiffly, his facial muscles hindered by the tin metal. ”But I do miss my heart.”

”Maybe your tin comes in the way for your heart.” Dorothy mused. ”Muffles it, like.”

”Do you think so?” He seemed alarmed by this. ”However do I get it to stop?”

”Well, we’re hardly experts.” Crow grimaced. ”Though perhaps the magic can help you too?”

”Oh, yes!” Dorothy smiled. ”I bet it can.”

”Magic, like the curse that made me this?”

”Well, obviously not exactly like it. You’re already tin, you don’t need to be more tin, but perhaps less…” Dorothy thought out loud. ”Tell you what, Tin-man, why don’t you come with us? We’re headed to the Emerald City to look for magic, to make Crow more and to take me home.”

”Yes, marvellous idea. The more the merrier!” Crow made a small hopp in excitement.

”The Emerald City? I’ve been there once, long ago. Maybe the Wizard of Oz can help? He lives there, in the Royal Palace of Oz.” The Tin-man cried out in epiphany. 

”A wizard? Well, that’s perfect.” Dorothy exclaimed happily. ”A wizard would not be a wizard without magic!”

”Then that’s where we need to go!” Crow cheered and danced out on the Yellow Brick Road again. ”Come along, friends! We’re off to see the wizard!”

=====================================================================

They’d almost made it to the Emerald City, Dorothy could see it glinting and glimmering in the distance, when they stopped again. It wasn’t agreed on or planned or anything; they all just stopped simultaneously and as one turned to the left. Just about ten feet into the tree line off the road there was a hunkering figure shivering in the shadows.

”How about that.” Crow whistled. ”A shivering shadow.”

”Most peculiar.” The Tin-man agreed.

”I don’t think it’s a shadow, per say.” Dorothy inched closer to the tree line to see more clearly. ”Nope, definitely not.”

”Then what is it?” Crow asked confused.

”Oh, don’t ask that. Ask who, not what. No need to be rude.” Dorothy chided him lightly, the need for politeness never quite having left her even though she hadn’t been in Wonderland for a while now.

”All right, who is it?” He gave a suffering sigh.

”He looks a bit… like a lion.”

”A shivering lion?” The Tin-man scoffed. ”Never heard of such a thing.”

Ignoring her two new friends, Dorothy stepped closer to the huddling figure to get a closer look. It was indeed a lion, a rather large one at that, and though she had never seen any lions before she had a memory of reading about them in her first land (the one she did her best not to think about) and she recognised the creature for what it was easily. But something about his posture made him seem less a lion and more a mouse; it just screamed timidness. 

”Excuse me?” She spoke softly. ”Are you all right?”

He stiffened, shivering no more, before seeming to crawl in to himself even more. Leaning even closer in she could hear him mumbling something.

”Sir, really, are you well?” She reached out to touch him gently. The animal flinched under her hand but she held fast resolutely. ”It’s all right, I won’t hurt you. And neither will my friends.”

”Don’t go making promises for other people.” Crow spoke up from behind. ”Though this one is true, you never know. Not to mention it’s rude to speak for others.”

”And politeness is key.” She mumbled to herself, repeating Wonderland’s mantra, before again focusing on the task at hand. ”Really though, mr. Lion, you are quite safe. Don’t be scared.”

”…it?” She barely heard him but he definitely spoke just then.

”What?”

”Do you mean it?” He asked again, a little louder.

”Why yes of course, why would you not be safe?” She rubbed his shoulder softly. 

He finally uncurled himself and turned to look at her. It was the strangest thing; he undoubtedly had a lion’s face but the emotions she could read in it were so very human. Not even Cheshire had such human expressions as this.

”What are you doing here, Sir? In the forest and not on the road?” She hunched down to look him more directly in his eyes. 

”Scared. Too scared.” He shook his head.

”Whatever of, you are a lion?” Crow exclaimed and marched over to them, making the lion in question lean away in fright.

”Yes, top of the food chain, you are. What do you have to afraid of?” The Tin-man agreed as he too stepped closer.

”Ease up, you two.” She glared briefly at them. ”Though they are right. What are you afraid of?”

”Everything.” He sniffed. ”I… I just wish… that I wasn’t. It’s very exhausting, see.”

”I suppose it would be.” She nodded sagely. ”But if you don’t want to be afraid then simply don’t be.”

”Is it that simple?” The Tin-man questioned Crow in confusion. 

”How am I to know? I’m not the one that’s afraid.” He shrugged.

”Yes, it is.” Dorothy answered them both.

”No, it isn’t” The Lion said.

”I’m getting confused.” The Tin-man heaved a metallic groan that probably was meant to be a sigh.

”It’s all confusing.” Crow agreed. ”But that’s probably part of this whole life thing.”

”If it was that easy, I would have done it by now.” The Lion sighed defeatedly.

”But you are a lion.” The Tin-man gestured. ”Aren’t you supposed to be courageous by default?”

”That’s an archetype.” Dorothy informed him. ”But I suppose, if it is courage you want…?”

”Yes?” He looked at her with almost-not-hope in his cat eyes.

”You want to be more.” Crow said in an ’aha’ tone of voice. ”Just like me.”

”What?”

”Yes, precisely.” Dorothy nodded furiously. ”More of a lion. Just like you want to be more than a scarecrow and you less of a tin-man.”

”Well, then it’s simple.” Crow smiled the biggest smile he could muster. ”You should come with us!”

”…I…I don’t know.” He looked thoroughly confused and not a little bit scared. 

”We’re going to see the Wizard of Oz.” The Tin-man explained. ”In the Royal Palace in the Emerald City. To ask him for favour.”

”Favour of more, in my case.” Crow pointed at the Tin-man. ”And less in his. And home for Dorothy. We could ask him for more in your case too.”

”Crow want’s to know more of the world, Tin-man want’s to feel more and I want to go home.” Dorothy explained in turn. ”And you want courage, do you not?”

”Yes.” He nodded, a spark of something lighting up in his eyes. 

”Well, it can’t hurt to try.” She smiled and offered him her hand. ”Do you want to come with us?”

He took her hand. 

=====================================================================

They had arrived. 

It truly was unlike any other place she’d ever seen. The Royal Palace in the Emerald City was grander than even the palace of the Queen of Hearts whose palace was grander than the Red Queens by far. Though there were less guards; no one stopped them as they entered, they simply walked right in. 

Following the swindling corridors that seemed to have no end they eventually ended up at a pair of gigantic looming doors. 

”I’ve got a bad feeling.” The Lion stammered nervously.

”Oh, come on!” Crow taunted. ”It’s just a pair of doors.”

”Granted they look a bit intimidating.” The Tin-man added, also rather nervously.

”Anything that big would.” Dorothy tried to calm them down. She stepped closer. ”Well, we haven’t come all this way for nothing.”

She pushed them open.


	3. Oz, part two

The grand hall of the palace was… grand. It was huge! She had never seen such magnificence before. The Queen of Hearts’ palace was not nearly as large, though its gardens swallowed the Emeralds City easily, and it had no room as grand as this. The room was in fact not that big, but the pillars, high ceiling and emerald walls made it seem much bigger.

The four travellers ambled inside only to stop almost immediately at the sight that greeted them. There was no wizard in sight but instead two beautiful women standing on the raised floor up ahead. They had turned toward the intruders and the brunette seemed angry.

”Who are you?” She barked out. ”How did you get in here?”

Dorothy could feel her feline friend shrink behind her in fear and to her left the Tin-man stilled as if rusted stuck. 

”Through the doors.” Crow waved at them nonchalantly. 

”We are looking for the Wizard of Oz.” Dorothy spoke up. ”We were told this is his abode.”

”Not any more.” The second woman spoke softly. ”Why were you looking for him?”

”To ask for aide.” She answered before asking ”If this is not where he is, then perhaps you could tell us where he has moved to? Some of us are quite desperate.”

”Truly?” The second woman looked pensive before turning to her companion. ”This is good.”

”How is this good?” The first woman huffed. ”They are interrupting us.”

”Because, don’t you see?” She gestured toward the four of them. ”This is an opportunity.”

”I don’t follow.” She seemed very confused, and she wasn’t the only one.

”Part of your duty, as a good witch, is to help those in need of it.” She took a hold of her friend’s shoulder and turned her toward them. ”These people need your help; they can be your first good deed!”

The woman glanced at them briefly before answering. ”But they are not here for me.”

”We both know that the wizard” she scoffed ”would not have been helpful beyond a few condolences and tricks. You can do so much better.”

”I could.” She nodded. ”I can.”

”Show me, and more importantly yourself, that you can be good.” She stepped away from her friend.

The first woman took a nervous breath and smiled, somewhat awkwardly, at them. ”Tell me how I can help.”

=============================================================================

Zelena, the Good witch of the West, patiently listened to Crow’s unorganised explanation while Glinda, the Good witch of the South, stood to the side softly smiling. Dorothy wasn’t exactly sure what was going on or what had happened to the wizard but if these women would help her return home to her beloved madness then she wouldn’t complain. 

It seemed to her that Zelena was the apprentice witch and that Glinda was guiding her. Apparently Oz had four Good witches that looked over their respective cardinal points and formed some sort of council of which Zelena was a newcomer member. She noted, absently, that both witches had the same locket around their necks; some sort of square jewel encrusted in a metal frame, and figured that it had something to do with the council but didn’t bother to think about it too much. 

It quieted down in the room and Dorothy realised that she’d failed to pay attention. It seemed Crow was done explaining and now Zelena was thinking it over. The apprentice turned to her guide, as if asking permission, and then turned back resolutely. 

”Alright, let’s see what I can do.” She turned first to the lion, cowering at the furthest back. ”Some courage would do you good.”

Crow grinned, a slightly disturbing sight for a scarecrow, and marched over to his feline companion and proceeded to drag him to the front. The Tin-man looked on stoically and Dorothy simply stepped out of the way; eager to see what would happen next.

”So.” Zelena glanced at her fellow witch before fully focusing on her task. ”You desire courage.”

”Yes.” He stammered nervously, unable to look her in the eye.

”So much that you up and journeyed all the way here with three strangers you’ve known barely half a day to face a wizard of unknown origin and stature and ask him a favour?” She ticked them off on her hand.

Seeming to have lost his voice he mutely nodded.

”Well, it seems to me, Lion, that you are not in any way lacking of courage.” She summed up. Dorothy could see Glinda grin in the background, as if proud of her protege’s understanding. ”I can not give you what you already have.”

”Indeed you can not.” Glinda applauded. ”Good work.”

”You… you really think so?” The feline dared to finally look the witch in the eye.

”Yes.” She smiled, not as brightly as Glinda but Dorothy could still see genuine joy in her expression, if a bit dimmed.

”See, old fellow, I said so.” Crow slung his arm around his shoulder.

”No, you did not.” Dorothy laughed.

”What about me?” The Tin-man spoke up for the first time.

”Yes.” Glinda glanced him over. ”You.”

”It’s been a while, your magic-ness.” He did stiff impersonation of a bow. ”Though not enough for me to rust.”

”I trust you have learned your lesson?” She stepped closer to him.

”You two know each other?” Zelena seemed utterly perplexed of the idea.

”This chunk of metal used to work for me, a long time ago, but his attitude left much to be desired.” Glinda huffed. 

”I barely remember these days.” He groaned and clanked. ”But I don’t regret it. I much prefer the tin.”

”How peculiar.” Zelena looked him over. ”You turned him to tin?”

”As penance.” Glinda nodded. ”Though I suppose it has been far enough.”

”Oh, no. I really do prefer the tin.” He shook his head. ”There is a certain quietness to being metal that I’ve come to enjoy, see. But my heart? That I do miss.”

”Your heart?” The good witch of the south asked. ”But it’s beating in your chest, as it always have, I did not take it.”

”It’s not that it’s not in here.” He placed his tin hand at his chest. ”I just don’t feel it like I used too.”

”Of course not!” Glinda scoffed lightly. ”Because you are not what you used to be. You’ve changed as have your heart.”

”Strange magic, this.” Zelena walked around him with overseeing eyes. ”Where did you learn it?”

”Nowhere.” She smiled indulgently at her apprentice. ”The only limit to your magic is yourself.”

”Fascinating.” 

”So, my heart is just the same. It is I who have changed?” The Tin-man tried to grasp the concept. 

”Yes.” Glinda nodded. ”If you wish to feel your heart again, I’ll have to change you back. It has been many years, I am not opposed to it, your attitude has improved; that much I can tell. Your lesson is learned.”

”No.” He shook his head. ”I much prefer the tin.”

”So you’ve said.” She looked taken aback at first before seeming to reach a conclusion. ”Then at least let me give you this gift, as it was I that changed you it will be me to help you.”

She threw her arm out and he was enveloped in silvery smoke for a few seconds before the smoke cleared. ”Never shall you rust, never shall you stiffen, though tin you will be forever you will not suffer the ailments of metal.”

He blinked before trying to move his limbs with absolute ease and no creaking of clanging sounds were to be heard. Dorothy could see the change in him easily; he seemed more fluid and not as stiff, like a regular person just with metal skin.

”Thank you, your magic-ness!” He gave a hopp as Crow joined his side.

”Look at you, all limber.” He saluted. 

”Absolutely fascinating.” Dorothy heard Zelena mumble and realised with a start that the witch was right next to her.

”My turn now!” Crow called out and skidded in front of Zelena. ”Will you make me more?”

”How are you to be more? Do you want to be a man rather than a scarecrow?” Zelena looked upon him in deep thought. ”I suppose I could, if that is what you truly desire.”

”Oh no, not a man. Still a Crow, just more.” Crow shook his head precariously, making a few strands of hay fall out. 

”Then I don’t understand.” She huffed. ”You want to be more but still the same? It is impossible to have it both ways! Make your mind up, straw man.”

”Temper.” Glinda’s voice drifted softly through the air, making Zelena shake herself lightly.

”I mean, if you please?” By the look on her face, the ’please’ took a great deal of effort to utter. Dorothy would have giggled at the sight but choose, wisely, to keep her amusement to herself. 

”Personally,” Dorothy spoke up to get their attention ”I think that you are already much more than you were before.”

Crow turned to her. ”How do you mean?”

”Well, think carefully.” She urged him. ”How would you spend your days before today? On your perch, like your brothers, much less than you have become today. Huw much more do you want to be?”

”She has a point.” Glinda smiled at her before turning to Crow. ”A good friend deserves to be heard, I’d say.”

”Perhaps you already have all that you seek, but fail to see it?” Zelena spoke softly, as if more to herself than to Crow. Judging by the pensive look on her face she was thinking hard about something and judging by the pleased look on Glinda’s face she knew exactly what it was and was more than happy about it. 

”Well, if three of you good ladies think so…” Crow fell silent.

Dorothy walked up to him and placed her hand at his shoulder. ”We do so ever think so.”

He looked at her, deep in thought, before a scarecrow grin spread across his face. He seemed to straighten up and gave a laugh. ”Ha! Who needs magic! I can be more by simply being more! Aren’t I just perfect?”

Dorothy laughed as he performed a small dance on the spot in glee. ”The most perfect Crow I’ve ever met.”

”Good for you.” The Lion stammered shyly and the Tin-man cheered.

”It’s just you now, Dorothy.” The Tin-man said.

”Yes.” Zelena appeared to have woken up from her musings and turned to the last of the four. ”And what do you need?”

”Oh, I am not from around here.” She started to explain. ”I come from another land.”

”You do?” Glinda asked, surprised.

”Yes, I only just arrived earlier today.” She shrugged.

”How?” 

”By way of a cyclone.” She answered, unaware of the look that Zelena sent her suddenly. ”It just picked me up and dropped me off here. I have no idea why.”

”Most unusual.” Glinda looked over at her fellow witch. ”May I ask, do you have magic?”

”Magic?” Dorothy started. ”Why?”

”Just wondering.” She gave a harmless smile.

”Well…” Dorothy hesitated before taking the plunge. ”Yes, I was once told I posses it, but I’ve never developed it. Never saw the point.”

”Why not?” Zelena asked abruptly. She could not imagine it, having magic and not using it. Magic was what saved her, from her dull and unappreciated life with her fake father, to not care for it was simply… impossible. Magic was a gift! 

”I don’t know, just because.” Dorothy shrugged. ”But never mind that, it’s not important. The thing is, now that I am here, I just want to go home.”

”Understandable.” Glinda smiled gently. ”But, perhaps, before you do?”

”Yes?” She asked as the Good witch of the South hesitated. 

”Magic is such a wonderful thing.” She started. ”Perhaps you’d let us show you? Just a little.”

”Why?”

”It is a gift. And not to utilise it… well, it’s just such a waste.” Glinda reached for her arm gently. 

”I don’t care.” Dorothy shrugged her hand off. ”I just want to go home.”

”We should let her.” Zelena interrupted, her voice slightly tight at seeing Glinda reach for another young witch like she had for her. ”If that’s all she wants.”

Glinda sighed, not noticing the slight edge her apprentice had taken on, before nodding. ”Of course, we would never keep you here against your will. But, think it over, will you? About magic.”

”I suppose thinking is harmless.” Dorothy agreed although knew that she’d never willingly learn magic, not after everything. She was fine with others possessing it but never would she cultivate it herself, not after the Queen of Hearts.

”Well then.” Zelena squared her shoulders. ”I have just what you need to get home.”

”Oh! But not yet!” Crow suddenly shrieked, gathering all their attentions.

”What?” Dorothy asked. ”Why not?”

”Because tonight is the Fall. You have to see it.” He explained eagerly. ”I see it every year from my perch but this is my first time off the perch and I want you to be here with me.”

”Why, yes. While you’re in Oz, you might as well take in the sights as well.” The Tin-man agreed and she could see the Lion nod at his side. 

”The what?” She was confused.

”The Fall.” Glinda smiled. ”The one night every year when the stars fall.”

”All at once?”

”Yes.” She laughed at her confusion. ”They don’t really fall, of course, but simply change places with each other. The night sky lights up with an endless wonder throughout the dark hours. It is a festival in Oz, because it always take place one week after harvest.”

”The beginning of a new season.” Zelena mumbled, lost in memories. Her father would disappear during the Fall night, and she would never know if he would come back. But he always did, drunker than ever, the morning after. And he was never in a good mood. 

”I concur.” Glinda said, a finality to her tone. ”You are a guest here in Oz, unwilling though you may be, and you should at least stay one night. Specially one as important as this. You can return home tomorrow.”

”But…”

”No, no buts.” Crow placed his arm at her back. ”Just fun.”

Dorothy sighed, knowing they would not budge. One night could not hurt, surely, and Zelena had said she had exactly what she needed to get home. It would not disappear overnight. One night should be alright. Just one. 

”Alright.” She slumped, defeated. ”Just one night.”

”Perfect.” Glinda smiled. ”I’m sure we can find you a room in the palace, Zelena?”

The brunette started, still lost in days past, but nodded absentmindedly all the same. 

”It will be alright, Dorothy.” Glinda assured her. ”One night of wonder and then you’ll be back home. You’ll see.”

”Yes, I suppose I will.”

=============================================================================

Dorothy was given a quick show of where the guest room was (not that there really was one, apparently the previous owner - the Wizard of Oz - hadn’t had all that many guests, but the palace was large and there were plenty of regular rooms to be had) before Crow dragged her and the other two outside to explore the Emerald City. 

The city, being built almost entirely in green marble, was a sight unlike any other she had ever seen. The great wall which surrounded the city was studded with all kinds of green gems, emeralds and others, making it sparkle in the sunlight. The buildings themselves were an odd mix between majestic marble mansions and slightly less majestic marble town houses. They all looked like they had been thrown together rather hazardously without any real planning but the effect was beautiful none the less. 

The people living in the city, a vast array of different shapes and sizes be they munchkins or talking animals (she swore she even saw a tree walking about a few streets over), were all very cheery. They greeted them with big smiles, waving and handshaking, and were all too happy to answer questions and be helpful. They reminded Dorothy of children to be honest, slightly naive and almost annoying but loveable all the same. They did seem rather sheltered though, not really up to date on the outside world and most had never so much as stepped outside the wall. 

All in all the Emerald City was properly magical and nice and not at all like any other land she’d been in. Which is probably why she didn’t like it too much. It lacked the gritty-ness of her birth world, the insanity and danger of Wonderland and it had nothing on the Enchanted Forest’s dark mysteriousness. Simply put, it lacked an edge. 

”This is so amazing!” Crow spoke in childlike wonder. ”Everything I thought it would be. I’d heard so much from my perch but the real image is simply perfect!”

”Yes.” Dorothy tried to sound equally amazed but suspected she failed rather miserably. ”Perfect.”

”What’s wrong?” The Tin-man leaned in close to her face.

”Nothing.” She tried a smile for reassurance. ”Just homesick, I guess.”

How was she supposed to explain her feelings to them? That their home world was too happy and pleasant for her taste? Too cheerful? It sounded stupid to her even, and they were her thoughts. 

”Don’t worry.” The Lion barely even stammered this time, slowly getting over his chronic fear. ”You’ll be home tomorrow.”

”Yes.” She smiled for real this time. ”I know.”

”Hey, guys!” Crow called to them from a nearby street vendor. ”Jules here says that the sun will set soon which means that the festival will begin. He’s about to close up here and then head off to the Emerald Square, where the festivities take place. He says he’ll show us the way.”

He was waving them over with great enthusiasm, making Dorothy giggle slightly. 

”Alright.” They came over. ”Do you need help to close up, Mr. Jules?”

”Oh, no. That’s quite alright.” The short man smiled cheerfully, his purple tinted skin slightly flush in excitement. ”Almost done.”

They stood by and waited as Jules Krakk (as he had so kindly introduced himself as) closed up shop, the vendor selling some sort of fluffy sweet that to Dorothy looked like miniature clouds, and packed away his goods. Then the jolly little man took Crow in hand and started off to the right, following the ever growing flood of people heading to the square, leaving the rest of them scrambling to catch up in abruptness. Crow and Jules were cheerfully chatting away about nothing and everything and all the bits in between while Dorothy kept a steady, if slightly stilted by all the bodies pushing from all sides, conversation with the Tin-man. The Lion had retreated to the back of the group and she made sure to check every few seconds that he hadn’t been swept off someplace. 

And then they finally reached the Emerald Square. 

”Whoa!”

”Golly!”

”My goodness!”

”Amazing!” Dorothy stared in stunned, not really, awe.

How come they hadn’t stumbled upon this place while exploring? It was huge! And glittering! A bit gaudy… 

”Grand, isn’t it just?” Jules smiled proudly, as if he himself had had a hand in building the splendid sight before them. 

”It certainly is, good friend.” Crow was quick to agree.

”Oh, and look, it’s about to start.” Jules pointed upward.

Suddenly it was like someone had put a spell on the square; every single person (tall, short, green, pink, pudgy, straw - every single one of these and every single one of the others) quieted into complete silence and at once, in startling unison, cast their sight to the skies. And what a sight!

It started small, just one speck of light in the distance, but gradually grew into a waterfall above them. Lights, the stars shining their very brightest, flowing across the sky in a wild and untameable dance. They streaked and jittered, over here and over there and every where in between, the whole night sky treating the people of Oz to a marvellous, amazing, beautiful spectacle. It truly reminded Dorothy of a waterfall, like one she’d seen in Wonderland on her travels, flowing majestically and mystic like in the unending miracle above her. 

She was glad she’d stayed. 

=============================================================================

Elsewhere, in the grande royal palace of the Emerald City, the breathtaking view of the sky full of wonders was being unduly ignored. Zelena briefly noted the start of the Fall, a small and quick peek through her gigantic windows confirmed it, but she did nothing to further look upon the awe-inspiring event. Indeed, her head - and heart - was elsewhere.

And it was not a pretty place, that elsewhere. It was foul, in spirit and body, full of insecurities and grey memories previously stuffed into the furthest reaches of her vast mind - now sprung to the surface, a bad reminder of who she once was. 

And all because of that Dorothy girl. 

Why would Glinda reach out to her? Was she not content with Zelena? Did she need another witch under her wing? Did she want one? More than her? 

And this business with the cyclone. Same method of arrival as Zelena. Same one as in the prophesy. And the girl had magic too! Undeveloped, but still. The whole thing nudged her subconscious in a way that was slowly becoming more and more impossible to ignore. 

She needed answers. And she needed them now.


	4. Life in progress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alright, those of you who've come over from FFnet already now but I figured I'd give the same note here too. Don't worry about Oz, there will be more, eventually, in flashbacks. You will get to find out how it ends, once it gets relevant to the overall story. These two chapters you've already seen are really more of a looksie into who Alice is and why she is who she is. To simply show what kind of life she's led.

Alice loved Jefferson. Jefferson loved Alice. There, nice and simple. They didn’t need anyone to tell them how to live and how to do it proper-like. And yet…

”I’m just saying, dear, it’s a bit… unusual.” Mrs Gray, nice old lady next door, tries to put delicately.

”Not that there’s anything wrong with that, goodness no, but…” Mrs Keeger, slightly less old still nice lady from down by the stream, speaks up in a hurry. ”Well, it’s unusual.”

”Specially around these parts.” Mrs Pander, pregnant with three kids and even less old but still bordering on nice, put in her two cents.

Alice just sat still (a humungous feat, considering) and listened to them all in turn. They were at old Mrs Fendermann’s house, by the market, enjoying tea and gossiping like their lives depended on it - as they did at least once a week. It was a semi-regular get-together that every woman in the village was invited to and most showed up if they were able. It was where the elder women gave advice to the younger, taught them life-important skills such as knitting and bread baking, and where news from the outside world traveled through. They were seated in the kitchen, Mrs Fendermann’s house the biggest in the whole village (her great-great-great -whatever-great grandfather having been the founder), some twenty women in varying ages and clearly divided into two sections; gossip and less-gossip. 

And somehow the subject of propriety had come up involving Alice and Jefferson’s living arrangement. 

Seeing as they weren’t married. Or engaged. Seeing as Alice literally had sprung up from nowhere and without a moments hesitation had moved in with him. Seeing as Jefferson had a bit of a reputation and not to mention a more than shady occupation. Seeing as he was gone on these shady business dealings most of the time, thereby leaving Alice all on her own. Seeing as Alice was a young, presumably respectable, woman with no discernible family living on her own with such a man.

Not that they meant anything out of turn with it. Oh no, Jefferson was a charming fellow who probably was entirely honourable and they didn’t mean to shine any questions upon her character, goodness no! But people talk, you see, and it is slightly… unusual. 

Or so it went. 

Alice found herself, in the midst of all this, somewhere between anger and hilarity. As if it was any of their business! As if she cared! As if Jefferson didn’t have a mysterious occupation that most definitely involved stealing and lying and everything dis-honourable and as if they hadn’t been sharing a bed since the first day she moved in! Well, leaning more toward hilarity at the moment. But the anger was still there, make no mistake, but as a previous resident of Wonderland Alice had the concept of politeness deeply ingrained in her system and therefore did her best to reel it in. 

In the end they left her with a ”think about it, dear, and remember, we mean no ill will” and she bid them all farewell for now and headed back to Jefferson’s cabin. 

She brought it up to him during dinner (which he cooked, seeing as Alice was a terrible cook - though a great gardener for some reason); right in between ”what a delicious stew” and ”they offered cherry pie, can you believe it, do you think they’re trying to poison me?”.

Jefferson laughed. Long. And hard. 

And then he stood up, walked over to Alice, dragged her up with her fork still in hand, and took her hands in a dancing-stance.

”Well, I suppose I must make an honest woman of you.” He gave them a twirl, his eyes alight with mischief and happiness. ”Fancy a marriage?”

Alice laughed. ”As long as we don’t serve cherry pie at the reception.”

They danced the rest of the night away, the dinner forgotten and cold on the table.

======================================================================

Jefferson had been gone for almost four weeks. Alice was feeling antsy, stuck between ”get yourself back home soon, or else” and ”please be gone a bit longer, if you please”. 

It was a weird place to be stuck on, emotionally speaking, but there she was. Stuck. 

Truthfully she’d been stuck like so for a full week come the next day. It had been six days since she found out. Six days; it felt more like six seconds if you asked her. She was excited and nervous, happy and terrified. Stuck in between. 

Truthfully, this whole period of absence on Jefferson’s part had been different from all the others. She had felt all funky already before he left. Not that he’d noticed, of course, although he did comment on her aloofness (”did you sleep badly?”). It had just gotten worse ever since that day; she was tossing and turning every night, unable to find herself comfortable, she felt slightly nauseous all day and sometimes the world was spinning around her. 

She thought she was getting a fever. It was Mrs Hamper, the widower living on the other side of the well, who told her differently. The old lady had developed a routine after her husband died; always, without fail, she would every day take a stroll. And she would always stop by to exchange greetings whenever Alice was home; the younger woman inviting her for tea and they would chat about the garden/weather/handsome-knights-that-came-through-the-village-that-one-time and so on. 

Six days ago she’d stopped by again, first appearing slightly worried over her young friend, before promptly bursting out into laughter. Shortly thereafter she explained herself. And shortly thereafter she walked out again for a brief period of time before returning, this time with company.

Denise Alden, old maiden that she was, was the village nursemaid and midwife. All it took was ten minutes and it was confirmed.

Alice was pregnant.

And now she was stuck. 

What would he say? Would he be happy? Not happy? What about her? Was she ready?

In all of her life, the subject of motherhood had never once come up for contemplation. It had never occurred to her to even think about. And yet, here she was, the subject having efficiently smacked her in the face and forced her to contemplate. Stupid subject.

She was sat in the garden, between the herbs and the berry bushes, having long since given up the illusion of actually gardening. No, she was thinking. Well, panicking is more like. And at the same; rejoicing. 

Now if only he’d come home so that they could panic together.

======================================================================

Alice was no longer stuck in between two extremely confusing emotions. Rather, she had firmly landed on just one.

She was worried. Very much so. 

It had been five months. Five! No sign of Jefferson. Where was he? What is taking him so long? What if…?

No! She would not cry. She refused. She would not…

”Oh, darling.” Mrs Hamper tutted at her young friend. The old lady had taken to stopping by every day now, making sure Alice was well taken care of. She helped the young wife prepare for the baby, kept her company and generally being simply being an amazing friend. 

”Where is he?” Alice sniffled. The pregnancy was taking its toll on her; more so the absence of her wayward husband. Her emotions were always running amok these days. ”What if he’s not coming back?”

”Oh, now, don’t think like that.” Mrs Hamper shushed her and refilled her tea. ”Let’s be positive.”

”Positive!” Alice exclaimed. ”Why must I be positive?”

”Well…” The older woman started but Alice was having none of it.

”No! I will not be positive! There’s nothing to be positive about!” She was half yelling-half sobbing. ”That cursed mad man is gone. He’s left me. And if ever there was a chance, no matter how small, that he’s still out there somewhere then he better watch it. If he comes crawling back here with some excuse I will smack him senseless!”

”You don’t mean that, child.” Mrs Hamper smiled in amusement.

”Oh, yes, I do!” Alice huffed. ”Senseless!”

”Nothing more than he deserves, I suppose.” Mrs Hamper laughed.

”Exactly.” She nodded definitively before seemingly deflating. ”I will smack him. Just you watch.”

Recognising the somber tone for what it was, Mrs Hamper moved in closer and laid an arm around the girl. 

”He will be back, darling. He will.” She soothed the best she could.

”You sound so sure.” Alice wiped a stray tear from her cheek; the gall of it, daring to escape from her eyes without permission. 

”Because I am.” The elderly woman patted her on the shoulder and gave her a one-armed hug. ”I’ve seen the two of you together, however briefly it was. Even if he had to swim through the burning tar-pits and best dragons, he would find a way back to you.”

”I wish I was so sure.” Alice spoke wistfully, her sadness making way for the smallest smidgen of hope. 

”Just you watch it, child. He will be back.” Mrs Hamper sounded firm. ”Just you watch.”

======================================================================

It had been seven months. Still no sign of him. Now most days she tried not to think about it too much; it held way too much sadness and fear. Only during the night hours did she allow her thoughts to stray into such territory. Most days she stayed strong while most nights… she cried herself to sleep.

She was outside in the garden. What used to be a large patch of wild grass now a’days had sprouted into a full-out cottage garden; with flowers and herbs and even a black berry bush that only recently had grown berries. It was difficult to work around her rather big belly and even more so to bend down and climb up again, but she managed. The garden kept her calm. While rearing her gardening tools and weeding and sneaking a few tastes of the edible plants she was at peace.

So much in peace in fact, that she missed him.

She failed to see the familiar shape lumbering past her through the garden patch. With her back to the door she never saw it opening and then close. She never heard the tell-tale creak of the ragged bed frame as he all but fell into it. She never heard him call out her name; his voice hoarse and weak. She never noticed any of these things.

Which is why, when she finally came back into the house - basket in hand filled with all kinds of greens - and saw the, somewhat familiar, man lying in her bed she screamed. 

He jerked awake with a shout. They both screamed. And then they finally got a good look of each other.

”Jefferson?” She gasped, basket dropping to the floor in her shock.

He blinked. Looked her over. Blinked again.

”Pregnant.”

And then promptly passed out. Later he would claim that it was the fatigue and the hunger and the thirst and everything else that made him pass out (a man does not faint, thank you very much). No one ever believed him. 

======================================================================

Camelot, she was told, he’d been in Camelot. A strange foreign kingdom he traveled to via his hat. Something had happened, he never went into details and she never truly pushed, but whatever it was had… delayed him. 

She really did smack him. A few times. At first to wake him up - she wasn’t going to let him sleep after seven months of nothing! - and then again a few times because she was pregnant and prone to mood swings and hello! Seven months of nothing! 

He didn’t complain too much. He was too busy smiling.

”Pregnant.” The grin was infectious but she would not cave. 

”You… you… unbelieving son of a… unforgivable… stupid little… aargh!” She found it rather difficult to enunciate her feeling properly. 

”We’re having a child.” It was like he wasn’t even feeling the pain she was doing her very best to inflict on him.

”I hate you!” Smack, smack, smack.

”I love you.” It really was infectious, that stupid grin. 

She started crying, not sad angry tears but happy ones. He took her face into his hands and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.

”I love you too, you big idiot.” She caved. Stupid grin.

He never once said ”sorry” and she never once asked for it. He was back. He was alive. They were together. And they were having a child. The past is the past and it doesn’t matter in the long run anyway.

Not even two days later he told her he was hanging up his hat. No more marauding around in different worlds for him. It would make for a rather poor living but neither of them cared.

All was good. Finally.


	5. Storybrooke, take One (aka the Pilot)

Willa loved the rain. She didn’t know why, exactly, she just always had. Whenever it was sunny she wished for rain. Mary Margaret thought she was crazy, but then again, many people did - and they were a great deal less kind about it. 

The point was, whenever it rained Willa always rushed outside. Even if it was in the dead of night or early morning, even if she was only wearing her pyjamas or work clothes, she always went outside when she saw the first few drops fall. She loved the sensation of raindrops on her skin and she was never bothered by the cold or the wet. Maybe she was crazy. But she sure as hell wasn’t going to hide away from it.

Embrace the madness. Someone once told her that, se couldn’t remember who, but it stuck with her. Whenever logic and reason tried to get in the way of her ideas she went back to that phrase and all would be well again. 

Which is why, when late evening rolled around and she spotted rain falling outside her window, she dropped her sketchbook and rushed out of her room. Mary Margaret was down in the kitchen making a late snack and barely looked up as her roommate half ran half skipped past her and toward the door.

”Jacket, Willa.” Was all she said, making Willa stop mid-step and turn around to the clothes rack by the door and snatch up her dark green hoodie before once again reaching for the door knob. ”Good girl.”

Not even acknowledging the comment, the blonde was already out the door and halfway down the stairs. She stumbled out the front door and stopped, taking in the glorious rain, before deciding on her next course.

It was late and almost no one was out, meaning the streets were practically empty and no one was around. She smiled and skipped off the sidewalk onto the street before twirling with her arms out, face up toward the sky and a cheshire grin on her face. 

Willa really did love the rain. 

She danced her way down the main street, not really paying attention to her surroundings, and let herself fill up with the rain. She started singing, a song with no words, just sounds, and with closed eyes she imagined the water dancing in tune and the wind playing along. She always felt free under the rain, free from everything, and let her imaginations run completely wild. People would always tell her to grow up and face reality but she refused; who were they to say that their reality was the real one anyway? 

She failed to notice the yellow bug parked alongside the road, as she failed to notice the two people getting out of it. She did however hear a boy’s voice saying something and she opened her eyes and saw Henry Mills with some stranger she’d never seen before. Not one to get suspicious she simply smiled and walked over to them.

She arrived just in turn to hear Henry explain the curse to the strange woman. ”The Evil Queen did it with her curse. She sent everyone from the Enchanted Forest here.”

”Hang on.” The blonde woman spoke up, clearly not believing him. ”The Evil Queen sent a bunch of fairytale characters here.”

”Yep.” Henry nodded, glad that she grasped the concept. ”And now they’re trapped here.”

”Like unknowing slaves to her will.” Willa said, startling them both. The woman seemed immediately on guard but Henry smiled brightly.

”Willa! What are you doing here?”

”It’s raining.” She answered, as if that explained everything, and Henry nodded, completely understanding.

”Of course, dumb question.” He then gestured to the woman he was with. ”Willa, this is my mum, Emma.”

”Truly?” Willa looked the blonde over. ”What happened to Regina?”

”My birth mother.” Henry elaborated. 

”Ooh, so you now have two.” Willa smiled childishly. ”I’m so jealous, I don’t even have the one.”

”You do realise you’re out here barefoot?” Emma asked the newcomer, not quite believing someone would walk around outside in the rain on asphalt among the broken pieces of glass and cigarette stumps without shoes.

”Yes.” Willa answered in a so-what voice.

”At least she’s wearing a sweater this time, and not just a tank top.” Henry shrugged as if this was completely normal.

”Right.” Emma clearly believed her to be crazy as well, but she didn’t take it to heart, it’s not like she ever claimed differently. 

”Henry!” Someone from across the street called and they all turned to see Archie Hopper walk up with his dalmatian Pongo in tow. ”What are you doing here? Is everything all right?”

”I’m fine, Archie.” Henry knelt down to pet Pongo. ”But Willa forgot to put on shoes again.”

”I did not.” She defended herself. ”I just didn’t feel like putting my feet in prison tonight.”

”Willa.” Archie sighed. ”Shoes are not prisons and you’re going to end up sick again.”

She just shrugged, as if not caring, and started to pet Pongo too. Archie sighed again but then seemed to realise that there was a third person in their small group and turned inquisitively toward the strange woman on his left.

”And who is this?”

”Just someone trying to give Henry here a ride home.” Emma was quick to answer but Henry had other ideas.

”She’s my mom, Archie.”

”And her name is Emma.” Willa felt a need to contribute.

”Oh!” He gave it a brief thought. ”I see.”

Emma decided that it was time to get going and took charge of the weird situation her birthday had evolved into. ”You don’t happen to know where he lives, by any chance?”

”Oh. Yeah, sure, just uh, right up on Mifflin Street; the Mayor's house is the biggest one on the block.” Archie provided.

Emma made a dis-believing expression mixed with apprehension. ”You’re the mayor’s kid?”

”Uh, maybe?” Henry dodged nervously, making Willa giggle.

”Hey. Where were you today, Henry, because you missed our session.” Archie seemed to remember.

”You missed a session?” Willa asked Henry as if he was crazy. ”Way to set off the psychiatrist’s radar.”

”Oh, I forgot to tell you.” Henry ignored Willa. ”I was on a field trip.”

Archie sighed and then kneeled down on the ground to Henry’s level. ”Henry, what'd I tell you about lying? Giving in to one's dark side never accomplishes anything.”

”But ignoring it doesn’t make it go away either.” Willa added. Archie glanced over at her briefly and was about to say something before Emma cut in, apparently not too impressed.

”Okay! Well, I really should be getting him home.” She nodded toward the bug.

”Yes, of course. Henry, be good.” Archie stood up again. ”And as for you, miss Dodgson, I’ll be escorting you home before you catch pneumonia.”

”I wouldn’t catch it.” Willa told him seriously. ”I would dodge.”

”Yes, well, humour me.” He took her hand and they started to walk off. 

”Bye, Henry, watch out for the Evil Queen!” She waved as they started climbing back into the car.

”You too!” He waved back.

She turned forward again and saw Archie give her a look. ”What?”

”How are you?” He dodged.

”Good.” She knew were this was going and really wasn’t all that surprised.

”No more nightmares?”

”A few.” She admitted. ”But I’ve decided to not call them that anymore.”

”Oh, and what would you call them instead?” He asked, genuinely curious.

”Creative dreams.” She smiled. 

He laughed. ”That they certainly are.”

================================================================================

”So, that’s your shrink?” Emma asked Henry, a knowing look on her face, as they watched the two strangers (to her, anyway) walk off.

”I’m not crazy!” He defended vehemently. ”And neither is Willa.”

”Never said you were.” She raised her hands in defence, though the young girl certainly had struck her as a little crazy. 

”You didn’t have to.” Henry sighed. ”Everyone says she is, but she’s not. She’s just different. And I know they say the same about me.”

”I didn’t.” Emma shook her head. ”It’s just, he didn’t seem cursed to me, your shrink. Maybe he’s just trying to help you.”

”He's the one who needs help. Because he doesn't know.” 

”That he’s a fairy tale character.” Henry could literally feel the disbelief rolling of his birth mother.

”None of them do. They don't remember who they are.” He tried to explain but she just wasn’t listening.

”Convenient.” They climbed back into the car. ”Alright, fine, I’ll bite. Who are they supposed to be?”

”Archie’s Jiminy Cricket.” Henry proclaimed as if it was obvious. ”And Willa is Alice, from Wonderland.”

”…right.”

================================================================================

Archie walked her all the way back to the front door before saying goodnight and Willa obediently walked back inside. She found Mary Margaret waiting for her, sitting at the kitchen island with a cup of hot chocolate in her hand and a half finished sandwich on a plate.

”How was the rain?” The school teacher greeted as Willa hung off her hoodie.

”Magical.” She smiled in answer and joined her friend.

”As always.” Mary Margaret smiled back before taking on a stern face. ”I realised that you left your shoes behind.”

”You never said anything about shoes.” She defended. ”Only a jacket.”

”I know.” She sighed. ”I just wish you could remember on your own. What happens when I’m not here to tell you?”

”I’ll be okay.” Willa shrugged. ”I always am.”

”Yes.” She was rewarded with a sad smile. ”You are. Somehow.”

”Guess what?” Willa grinned.

”What?” Mary Margaret couldn’t help but smile at her friend’s childish excitement. ”What happened?”

”I met Henry tonight.” She explained. ”He was with his birth mother.”

”Birth mother?” The teacher exclaimed. ”How?”

”He must have tracked her down somehow.” Willa shrugged. ”Regina will be so angry.”

They both giggled at the mayor’s expense. ”Oh, I wish I could see that.” 

”Me too, Mary, me too.”

================================================================================

The next day starts of as every other day in Storybrooke for Willa; Mary Margaret shaking her awake.

”Come on, Willa.” The school teacher frets. ”I have to get to the school in ten minutes”

”I’m up, I’m up.” She groggily sits up from under her mountain of pillows and stuffed animals. When she had moved in with Mary Margaret, years ago, she had insisted on buying a huge bed and stuffed it with plushies and pillows so much that there was barely enough room for her to actually sleep in. When her new room mate had asked her why she had simply said that the bed always felt empty unless it was full. 

”Good. I prepared breakfast for you downstairs and remember that I’ll be late today, I’ve got to stay and grade essays.” She bustled around her friends room, picking out clothes for her to wear based of the weather because she didn’t trust Willa to dress properly by herself. The blonde had no common sense when it came to dressing according to the hot or cold weather and was liable to simply walk around in her pyjamas if Mary Margaret wasn’t careful. 

”Okay.” Willa rubbed her face to wake up better and obediently put on whatever clothes that were thrust into her arms before being dragged out of the room and down to the kitchen.

”Alright.” Mary Margaret paused and positioned herself directly in front of her young friend and made sure to have her complete attention. ”Shoes, jacket and cell phone.”

”Yes.” Willa agreed. ”I’ll remember.”

”Good girl.” She patted her on the head.

”I’m beginning to think that you see me more as a pet than a room mate.” Willa complained lightheartedly as her friend started to get dressed for work.

”Perhaps a mix between the two.” Mary Margaret teased and grabbed her bag. ”See you tonight.”

”Yep.” Willa spoke around the toast in her mouth and waved goodbye.

Just another day in Storybrooke. 

================================================================================

Unlike her friend, Willa didn’t have a day job per say. Her attention span couldn’t really handle it. Instead she had several small part-time jobs and simply worked wherever and whenever she was needed by an hourly rate. The entire town knew about her and her flimsy not-really-there personality but they all also knew that she was a good worker. Marco would hire her for small detail work in his wood shop, her eye for intricate design and artistic flair made her perfect for carving patterns in miniature. Mr. Gold would hire once a month for inventory, her chaotic system for organising apparently exactly what he liked in his pawn shop. But mostly she spent time at the Sheriff’s station, keeping Graham company and helping him with the paper work. 

But this day the station was somewhat crowded.

”Hey, Willa.” Graham greeted her on his way into his office. ”I’ve left a file on your desk.”

”Alright, Grammie.” She answered using the nickname she knew he hated only so that she could see his eye twitch. ”I’ll be right on it!” She saluted him and continued inside.

”Willa.” Marco greeted from his position by one of the cabinets that had broken the other day.

”Marco.” She smiled and turned to cells fully expecting to see Leroy but somewhat surprised by the other occupant still sleeping on the cot. ”Emma?”

The blonde didn’t so much as stir so she simply let her be for now and faced her favourite drunk. ”Leroy! My man.”

”Willy.” He grunted by way of greeting. 

”Catch the rain last night? It was glorious.” She leaned on the bars to his cell and gave him her loopiest smile.

”Still crazy as ever, I see.” He made his way up to a sitting position. ”No chance you can let me out?”

”Nope, sorry.” She shook her head. ”I mean, I know where the keys are but that’s Graham’s job. You’ll have to wait.”

”Useless.” He gave a sour look. 

”Sometimes. I won’t deny it.” She shrugged, not at all offended. Willa and Leroy had a strange sort of companionship; they weren’t really friends but they still saw the other as friendly. Willa speculated it was because both of them were completely honest about who they were; the town drunk and the town crazy. They may not be friends but they had each other’s back and Leroy was one of the few people that didn’t seem to mind her flimsy person. 

She walked back to the desk she usually sat in and picked up the file Graham had left for her to look over and organise for it to be archived. Leroy started whistling in his cell and Marco kept at it with the cabinet. 

She didn’t see Emma waking up but she did hear Leroy’s rude morning greeting.

”What are you looking at, sister?”

She turned and saw Emma awake. ”Morning, stranger.” She chirped, knowing she must come off a little weird but not really caring. ”Long time no see, eh?”

”Forgive Leroy, he’s not a morning person.” Marco apologised on behalf of the grump. ”So you are eh, Henry's mother. How lovely for him to have you back in his life.”

”Actually, I was just dropping him off.” Emma was quick to explain, apparently needing to distance herself from her son. 

Leroy humphed derisively. ”Don't blame you. They're all brats; who needs ’em?” 

”Sunshine and roses, you are.” Willa laughed at him.

”Well, I'd give anything for one.” Marco spoke up and turned to Emma again. ”My wife and I, we tried for many years, but, uh... it was not meant to be.”

”Well, cry me a river.” Leroy scoffed, clearly the hangover making his usually grumpy mood even worse. 

Emma looked like she wanted to say something but before she could open her mouth, the Sheriff entered. Graham walked over to the cells and started unlocking the one Leroy was in. ”Leroy! I'm going to let you out; you need to behave. Put on a smile, and stay out of trouble.”

Leroy stood up, gave the worst impression of a smile Willa had ever seen, and walked off with a nod to her for goodbye. Marco stood up and dusted himself off before following with a quick wave to Graham; the cabinet fixed.

Emma looked at Graham through the bars. ”Seriously?”

”Yeah, what happened anyway?” Willa asked from her desk.

Graham gave her a look, witch she returned with an innocent smile, and then answered Emma. ”Regina’s drinks, a bit stronger than we thought.”

”I wasn't drunk; there was a wolf, standing in the middle of the road.” Emma defended.

”Really?” Willa asked. ”You got into a car accident? It’s because you tried to leave, you know.”

”What?” Emma scrunched up her face, not really seeing the connection.

”No one ever leaves.” She shrugged and Graham thought it was best to get back on track. 

”A wolf? In the road? Causing you to crash?” He sounded pretty disbelieving. 

”Do we even have wolves in Maine?” She’d never been any good at geography. 

”Maybe it was a coyote?” Graham pointed out though it sounded more like he was joking.

”No, it was a wolf.” Emma rolled her eyes.

”Graham!” Suddenly they could hear what sounded like the mayor calling in. ”Henry’s run off again, we have to…”

She entered the office and stopped abruptly at the sight of Emma in the cell. ”What is she doing here?” She sounded really offended before turning to the blonde in the cell and her tone was very accusing. ”Do you know where he is?”

”Lady, I haven't seen him since I dropped him at your house.” Emma raised her hands in surrender before gesturing to the cell in general. ”And I have a pretty good alibi.”

”The best.” Willa agreed before seeing the dark look Regina was sending her. Willa and Regina never really had much to do with each other, although Willa did sometimes work at the council hall where the mayor’s office was as a secretary, but whenever they saw each other she couldn’t help get the feeling that the older woman didn’t like her. She couldn’t imagine why though. it’s not like she had ever done anything to the mayor. 

”Yeah, well, he wasn't in his room this morning.” Regina stiffly explained.

Emma nodded understandingly. ”Did you try his friends?”

”He doesn’t really have any.” Regina said. ”Kind of a loner.”

”Every kid has friends.” Emma argued. ”Did you check his computer? If he was close to someone he'd be emailing them.”

”And how do you know this?”

”Finding people's what I do. Here's an idea; how 'bout you guys let me out, and I'll help you find him.” She suggested and Willa could see how much it pained her but Regina actually agreed. She wanted her son back.

Graham let her out and the three of them headed back to the mayor’s house, leaving Willa at the station with strict instructions from the Sheriff what to do and not to do. 

In the end she didn’t do much; there wasn’t that much work and she found herself bored. She checked the clock, wrote down how long she’d been there working for her salary at the end of the month, and then headed out. 

It was a nice enough day, no sunshine (god, she hated sunshine) but also no rain, so she decided to head for the pond and sketch a little. 

Just another day in Storybrooke, except not really. Willa couldn’t help but feel like something was changing. She just didn’t know what.

================================================================================

Willa had sat herself down on the grass right by the pond, sketching the swans that were lounging in the water. She loved sketching, almost as much as she loved the rain. Mary Margaret said that if she ever felt like it she could make a living out of her drawings; she was really good at it. She would sketch what she saw, what she imagined, what she dreamed and what others would describe for her. She was really good at doing animals but even better at doing people. Her bookshelf back home in her room was filled to the brim with sketchbooks that she a accumulated over the years rather than actual books and her walls were so full you could no longer see the wallpaper underneath. She preferred doing them black and white but sometimes she felt like doing some in colour just to shake things up a bit. If she wasn’t at home or at one of her odd jobs, she would be sitting somewhere sketching. 

Time flies and suddenly the world around her begins to darken. Looking up she realised that the sun is already setting and that some stars can already be seen peeking through the cracks in the clouds. Sighing she closes her sketching book and packs her tools down into her shoulder bag before getting up and stretching her limbs. Looking down on her wrist to check the time she swears.

”I’m late.”

Granny’s diner will have closed by now so there goes her dinner plans. Willa hates cooking herself and only ever eats full meals if someone else cooks them for her. If she’s on her own, like today since Mary Margaret would be late, she just makes herself a sandwich or something. That’s as far as her experience goes. 

”Shoot.”

She starts to make her way out of the park and onto the main street but stops dead in her tracks at the main crossroad. Something is off. Something is way off. What is it? Something has changed. What?

She looks around, trying to pinpoint it, and it takes her a while. But then she spots it.

The clocktower. That stupid clock in the clocktower that never moves, always perpetually frozen at 8:15 no matter how much time passes. 

It now says 8:21.


	6. The thing you love most

_”Where do you suppose you’re going?”_

_Alice halted abruptly, just a few feet away from the Black Forest. Turning around she spotted the speaker easily although she found herself rather surprised at the sight. It was a cat, a purple and pink striped cat._

_”I said, where do you suppose you’re going?” The cat repeated._

_”Um…” Alice looked at the male feline unsure what to say. ”In there?”_

_She pointed at the forest._

_”Really?” The cat smiled wickedly and eased himself closer to the girl. ”Why?”_

_”Because I feel like it.” She answered. ”Why? Is there any reason I shouldn’t?”_

_”Oh, there are plenty.” The cat hummed and floated of the ground with ease. He came to a havering stop at her eye level and readjusted himself in the air so that he was upside down. ”Who are you?”_

_”I am Alice.” She introduced herself, not at all caring to give her full name, while staring at his floating form mesmerised._

_”Alice.” He tasted her name and rolled over so that he was now upright. ”Yes, you look like one.”_

_”Well, I am one.” She said. ”What about you?”_

_”Cheshire is name.” He tipped his head. ”But you really shouldn’t bother with the Black Forest. Too much blackness for one such as you.”_

_”I suppose it would have to have quite a lot of blackness, to be named as such.” She nodded thoughtfully. ”But what do you think I should bother with, then?”_

_Cheshire hummed in deep thought, his body swirling around in the air and Alice followed his tail swishing in a hypnotising rhythm._

_”You are new.” He stated, not a question but she answered anyway._

_”Oh not really. I’ve been here awhile, just not out and about. I was a guest of the Queen of Hearts for some time.” She said ’guest’ as if it were a great swearword and the cat simply nodded._

_”Yes, I could tell.” He indicated the scar around her neck, where her head had been chopped off. He ticked his paw against his cheek. ”Most are at some point. But you’re not anymore. Promising.”_

_”How so?” Alice wondered but she was ignored. Instead Cheshire clapped his paws together, as if he’d just come to a great conclusion._

_”I have it now. Tell me, Alice child, how do you feel about tea?”_

_”Tea?” She asked confused. ”Well, I rather like it?”_

_”Wonderful!” He cheered and then gestured to follow him. ”Come, I’ll introduce you to the Hare.”_

=================================================================================

Willa came to slowly, one sense waking up one at a time. At first it was her hearing, she could hear Mary Margaret downstairs putting on the coffee maker and boiling some water. Then it was the feel of the bedcover, or rather the lack of it, that made itself known and she slightly shivered in the cool air. Lastly it was the sunlight, shining in her face and through her closed eyes.

It took a lot of willpower to open them. And even more to keep them open.

She’d had a dream. She couldn’t really remember what it had been about but something told her it was important. All she could picture was the color purple, or was it pink? It was quickly slipping away from her.

Willa groaned and tried to sit up. For once she hadn’t needed to be woken by Mary Margaret. It happened, at times, that she woke up by herself. It was rare, but not completely unheard of. 

Five minutes later she was dressed, dark green skirt that reached all the way down to her ankles and a light brown tunic with a white sash around the middle, and on her way down the stairs.

”Oh, you’re up.” Mary Margaret was equally surprised and equally happy to see her roommate so early. ”Good.”

Willa seated herself at the kitchen island and gratefully accepted the tea mug she was handed. ”I had a dream.”

”What was it about?” Mary Margaret asked as she bustled around and brought out the cereal. 

”I can’t remember. It was a good one, I think.” She took a sip of her tea. 

”Well, as long as it wasn’t another nightmare.” She poured milk into her bowl and sat down next to her friend. ”Are you busy today?”

”No, not really. Why?” 

”I was wondering if maybe you’d want to help me out today?” Mary Margaret asked.

”Oh, sure. I’d love to.” She smiled. Working with the kids in school always made her happy. There was just something about it that she liked. She couldn’t explain it.

”Great.”

=================================================================================

”Willa!”

She turned around to face the eager student. ”What, Martin?”

”How do you spell this?” The energised ten year old asked while pointing at his note book.

They were currently writing in their journals about something or other and Willa and Mary Margaret were walking around helping them whenever needed. Willa looked at the boy’s journal to see which word he was having problems with.

”Really?” She asked him, amused. ”Asphyxiated?”

”What?” Marting tried giving his most innocent expression. ”It’s about a tv-show I’m watching.”

”That uses words such as ’asphyxiated’?” She gave him her best ’stern teacher’ look that she could muster.

”Yes?” He wouldn’t fully meet her eyes.

”Does your parents know you are watching this show?” She crossed her arm.

”…” The guilty-as-charged expression on his face told her everything.

”Start over.” She instructed. ”Write about something different and we’ll never mention this again.”

”Thank’s, Willa.”

”Willa!” Mary Margaret came up from behind her, taking her by surprise.

”It wasn’t me!” 

”What?”

”Nothing.” Her friend squinted her eyes suspiciously. ”Sorry, it was a reflex.”

”Shouting ’it wasn’t me’ is a reflex?”

”It is in a classroom when you’re using your ’teacher’ voice and take me by surprise.” Willa did her best to ignore the students giggling around her, thoroughly amused by the scene. 

”Never mind.” Mary Margaret shook her head. ”I need you to run to the store room and pick up some materials for the next class.”

”Sure.” Willa shrugged. ”What do you need?”

As it turns out; Mary Margaret needed quite much. In the end she had to write down a list: A3 paper for making collages, color paper for cue-cards, glue, color-full felt pens and scissors. And then the students started making requests for rulers, sticky tape and she even got a cheeky request from Paige for glitter. How exactly the ten-year old would make use of glitter for a collage about photosynthesis was beyond her but she decided to oblige anyway. 

If only she had a third arm or something. Or maybe a wheel-barrow. With her arms full, as full can be, she started making her way back to Mary Margarets’s classroom. Of course the store room had to be in the opposite end of the school building! 

She didn’t see the mayor, honest. She just felt herself bump into someone and loose her grip on all her suplies. 

”Watch it!” The woman barked.

”Sorry.” Willa huffed. ”But the corridor is rather large and I couldn’t see where I was going whereas you…”

”Are you trying to blame me for your own failings?” Mayor Mills snapped.

Oh. Oops. She hadn’t truly noticed that it was Regina until she heard the sneer (and yes, she heard it, clear as day, not see it). 

”Um…” She tried to quickly think of a comeback, never mind that she was in the right.

”Clumsy idiot!” And then the mayor was no longer in the corridor. Willa watched her marsh off, clearly in a bad mood already before their ’encounter’.

”Sure.” She quipped once Regina no longer was in sight. ”Don’t apologise or anything. Or offer to help me collect all this up.”

If she was a lesser person she would call her a ’bitch’. But this was a school full with impressionable pre-teens and she prided herself on being at least moderately well-mannered. So she simply called her as such in her mind and went on with her business.

What was the mayor doing in the school, anyway?

=================================================================================

_Cheshire had taken Alice to the Hare’s tea party, through a long and winded road that she could not remember, and simply left her there. He’d never so much as introduced her before whisking off into smoke._

_She didn’t mind. The Hare was deliciously nutters and welcomed her with open arms. And he offered her cherry pastry. She declined, having never liked cherries, and that had seemed to endear her to the Hare something enormously. It wasn’t until later that she found out that the cherry pastries were poisoned and that she had somehow managed to pass his secret, not to mention lethal, welcoming ceremony. When she did find out all she did was laugh; now she had a legitimate reason to hate cherries._

_She stayed with the Hare for quite some time and was cordially introduced to his frequent tea-drinker friends._

_The Doormouse thought she was lovely and offered to teach her sword fighting. The White Rabbit, who was the sole reason she ended up in Wonderland to begin with, apologised profusely and then offered to dig her a hole back home. She refused before he even finished speaking._

_She quickly learned the ropes of the tea party, not to mention the sudden tuning-up her reflexes received while ducking flying trays of baked goods. During the day she would join the Hare and whoever else was present to drink tea and gossip and make a mockery of any who would pass. During the night she would join Cheshire in a vacant field not too far from the tea party and he would, if he was in the mood, regale her with strange and wondrous stories from his youth - not that he was all that old, that whole nine-lives-thing proving all too true._

_And sometimes the travellers passing by would stop for a cupper before continuing on their journey. And that’s how she first met the Knave of Hearts, otherwise known as Will Scarlett._

_”Squirt me some cream, sugar!” The Mad March Hare shouted from the opposite end of the mis-matched assortment of tables._

_”Heads up!” She shouted back as she took a hold of the nearest cream decanter and made her best effort to toss/spill the content all the way to the Hare and his cup._

_”Whoop.” The Hare managed to catch a few drops although most got wasted on the table._

_”And call me ’Sugar’ again and I will tear your ears off!” She saluted him._

_”Aye, darling.” A voice spoke up from behind her, making her turn abruptly and thus missing the sugar cubes the Hare threw at her in response. She felt them bounce of her head but didn’t acknowledge them, rather she was too focused on the stranger in front of her. ”Bit rude, so what do you wish to be called then, tidbit?”_

_”Well, not that.” She huffed. ”Alice is the name. And you?”_

_”Knave!” The Hare greeted and jumped up on the table. ”Come to join me tea party?”_

_”That depends.” The Knave looked over at him. ”Do you have peach cobbler?”_

_”Two days old.”_

_”Just the way I like it.” The man sat down in the chair to her right._

_”As opposed to three days old?” She looked him over. Tall, but not too much so, muscly but not stocky, brunette, dressed in some kind of uniform that had no discerning marks and a face of that of a trickster or mischief maker._

_”I’ll only go as far as four days old.” He told her, as if it was a great wisdom. ”No point in tempting fate.”_

_She watched as he took a huge bite of the cobbler, straight from the tray. ”I think you’re probably tempting her already.”_

_”Alice!” The Hare strutted over on top of the table. ”Have you met my not-friend, the Knave?”_

_”Just now, Hare.” She told him. ”Very friendly, for a not-friend that is.”_

_”This is Wonderland, tidbit.” The Knave smiled at her. ”We’re all friendly.”_

_”Call me that again and I’ll show you how not-friendly my friendly-ness can be.” She stuck out her tongue at him._

_”Ha!” He laughed. ”I like you.”_

_”You better.” She gave her best sass-expression._

_”Alice is not from around here.” The Hare decided to share. ”But I think we can make her a Wonderland-er yet.”_

_”She shows promise.” The Knave agreed. ”Say, Alice? How old are you?”_

_”Eight and a half.” She said proudly._

_”Young enough to learn then, isn’t she.” He said to the Hare who nodded in all seriousness._

_”Still time.” The Hare put a hand on her shoulder. ”Don’t you worry.”_

_”I wasn’t.” She duly informed him. ”But thank you.”_

_”Alright, first lesson, right here.” The Knave put down his spoon and faced her fully. ”Politeness is key.”_

_”The key to what?”_

_”Everything!” Both the Hare and the Knave exclaimed._

_”Second lesson.” The Knave leaned down to look into her eyes completely. ”Don’t ask questions and expect reasonable answers.”_

_”Why not?”_

_”Lesson two!”_

_”You can’t even give me an unreasonable answer?” She huffed._

_”Lesson three, expect nothing and believe in everything.” He held up three fingers. ”These are the most important lessons you can ever learn in Wonderland. You learn these and you might just become a Wonderland-er.”_

_”Are there only three?” Alice made a point to think them through as to make sure she’d remember them._

_”Oh no, there are plenty more.” The Knave laughed. ”But there is also plenty more of this peach cobbler so we have time.”_

_”Lots.” The Hare gave his widest, and by definition creepiest, grin._

_”I can’t wait.”_

=================================================================================

Willa soon found out exactly what the mayor had been doing in the school. 

”I can’t believe she would that?” She told Henry as he finished explaining to her what she’d missed.

”She must have had a reason.” Henry mused.

”What?” She looked confused. ”Oh, no, not Emma. I meant your mother, the evil one that is. I can’t believe she would pull you out of class just to gloat like that. Unbelievable.”

”But Emma must have had a reason, though.” Henry stayed on thought. ”Unless Mom lied.”

”No, she wouldn’t. What’s the point in gloating if you can’t do it truthfully.” Willa tried to think. ”Maybe she was gathering information?”

”My Mom?”

”No, Emma!” She paused. ”Although they’re both your mother… which one did you mean?”

”Which one did you mean?”

”This is getting confusing.” They both sighed.

”What is?” Mary Margaret suddenly appeared behind them.

”Gah!” Willa jumped. ”Geez, make some noise will you.”

”Emma has been arrested.” Henry jumped straight into it. 

”Arrested?”

”Apparently she’s in the station right now.” Willa explained. ”For stealing files from Archie’s office.”

”Allegedly.” Henry, ever the devoted son (to one mother anyway), was quick to point out. 

”Right.” She nodded and then she got an idea. ”Hey!”

”What?” Mary Margaret looked at the both of them worriedly. It had always amused and saddened her the way that Henry and Alice were so close; amused her because they were so alike in some aspects, saddened her because neither really had anyone else. 

”She’s going to need someone to bail her out.” Willa stated.

”Yes…” She had a bad feeling about where this was going.

They both turned to face her fully, identical pleading looks on their faces. Mary Margaret sighed. She was defenceless against those.

”Please.” Willa begged. ”Look, I met her. She seemed decent. And she stayed behind for Henry. She deserves our help.”

”Okay, I met her too and I agree with you.” The teacher smiled. ”And I will bail her out. But only because you’re both impossible to say no to.”

”Especially when we make sense.” Henry smiled. 

”And because we’re adorable.”

”Whatever you say.”

As soon as school let out, Henry dragged them all the way to the sheriff’s office. Willa didn’t even have time to put her jacket on, to Mary Margaret’s annoyance, but simply had to carry it.

They entered in a haste, Henry announcing himself rather loudly.

”Hey!”

”Henry?” Graham seemed surprised by this rather abrupt interruption. ”Henry, what are you doing here?”

”His mother told him what happened.” Mary Margaret informed him as Henry and Willa both walked up to Emma.

”I don’t believe this. You’ve been here for how long?” Willa laughed. ”And you’ve already gotten arrested twice.”

”Of course Regina told him.” Emma ignored her and turned directly to her son. ”Henry, I don't know what she said…”

”You’re a genius!” Henry burst out, stopping her from going any further.

”What?” Emma, of course, was understandingly confused by this.

”How is she a genius?” Willa wondered. ”You’ve hardly known her long enough to make such an assumption.”

”I know what she was up to.” He informed her before leaning in to Emma. ”For Operation Cobra?”

”Is that what we’re calling it?” Willa asked, knowing exactly what he was on about. She was, after all, one of the few (the only, really) who believed him. 

”I'm sorry, I'm a bit lost…” Graham looked confused.

”Good.” Willa told him. ”You should stay that way. Life is always infinitely more interesting when you think yourself lost.”

”It’s need to know, sheriff.” Henry used his best authority voice. ”And you are currently not in the in-circle.”

”We have a circle?” Willa looked at him wonderingly.

”We do now.” He told her back in a hush-hush voice and then turned back to Graham. ”All you need to know is that Miss Blanchard is bailing her out.”

”You are?” Emma was surprised by this. ”Why?”

”Because we told her to.” Willa stated, matter-of-factly. ”Well, blackmailed is more like.”

”With our adorable-ness.” Henry grinned.

”Um, because I trust you.” Mary Margaret intervened. Emma seemed hesitant at first, looking between the three of them as if she didn’t know quite what to do, but soon decided to just go with.

”Well, then.” She held her hands out to Graham. ”If you could uncuff me, I have something I need to do.”

=================================================================================

_”Am I doing holding this right?” Alice asked the Knave._

_”Widen your stance a bit, love.” He answered in between bites. ”That’s it.”_

_”And now?”_

_”Let go.”_

_The arrow sailed through the air in a wide arc before burrowing itself two feet away from the intended target._

_”You almost got it.” He applauded. ”And you’re doing well for a first-timer.”_

_The two of them where in a glade in the middle of the Whispering Woods and it was midday. The Knave, who had eventually introduced himself as Will Scarlett, had decided to take her with him on one of his side-jobs for the Caterpillar. He had taught her the basics of sword fighting, the Doormouse all to happy to provide (sometimes unwanted) instruction, but they both realised rather quickly that her talent lay elsewhere when she had thrown her first dagger right across a field and piercing a tree._

_A week later he had come to the Hare’s tea party with a gift for her; two throw daggers, most likely stolen but she didn’t ask. Then they moved on to archery._

_The Knave, who apparently weren’t too fond of his given name, had decided to take her under his wing. Alice suspected this had more to do with boredom than anything else but she was glad for the instruction. Wonderland, while wondrous, was dangerous and she still had to hide whenever the Queen of Heart’s guards showed up._

_”Try aiming a bit higher.” He told her, from his comfortable seat against a fallen tree trunk._

_She adjusted her sight and let go._

_”Perfect!” He cheered. The arrow exactly where it was supposed to be. ”You really have a talen for this.”_

_”I suppose we all must have a few talents for something.” She smiled and sat down next to him._

_”Right you are.” He offered a pear._

_They watched as a gaggle of purple mice scattered across the glade and simply listened. It was time for the flower field to start their daily chorus and even this far east they could still hear it; especially the sunflowers, who were always the loudest._

_The Knave ducked a horsefly as it neighed its way past, the hooves more than a little dangerous, and took another bite of his pear._

_”So, do you suppose you’ll stay here forever?” He wondered. It had been almost a month since they first met and they had seen each other almost everyday since._

_”I don’t believe in the concept of forever.” She told him. ”Seems far too long. Surely you’d die before then?”_

_”I suppose.” He admitted._

_”But I like it here. Much better than where I came from.” She answered. ”Although losing ones head was not fun but what came after. That, this, I could live with.”_

_”Where did you come from?” He asked, suddenly realising he didn’t know. ”I never asked.”_

_”A place much different.” She said. ”Not nearly as wondrous.”_

_”Well, of course not. This is Wonderland, it wouldn’t be called that if it wasn’t wondrous.” He nodded._

_”But it wasn’t even magical.” She sighed. ”All dull and grey and cold.”_

_”I’ve never heard of it. Does it have a name?”_

_”I don’t think so.” She mused. ”At least, not one I’d know.”_

_”What of your family?” He asked. Surely there must have been someone for the girl? She was far too young to be on her own._

_”I had one.” She scrunched up her face, trying to remember. ”Parents, I think. But for the life of me I can’t seem to recall their faces. Oh, but there was a cat! Dinah, I named her Dinah.”_

_”Maybe they were busy people, no time for children.” Yes, he’d seen people like that in the Enchanted Forest._

_”I think you are right.” She nodded. ”I remember wishing that things could be different. But then I fell through the rabbit hole and now it is.”_

_”Hm.” He nodded silently. ”Well, enough lollygagging! We have work to do.”_

=================================================================================

”Do you suppose it will be alright?” Willa asked Mary Margaret as they started preparing for dinner. ”Emma and Henry, I mean.”

”I sure hope so.” Her friend sighed. ”But it can’t be good for Henry, to see his mothers fight like that.”

Willa started dicing the mushrooms for the omelette as Mary Margaret started on the sallat. 

”Who do you want to win?” She grinned.

”Oh, Willa.” Mary Margaret laughed. ”It doesn’t work like that.”

”Maybe it should.”

”Think of Henry.” She sliced the tomatoes. 

”I am!” She huffed. ”Though, maybe some sort of coexistence would be best.”

”Definitely.” She looked around. ”Where did you place the vinegar?”

”Over the stove, bottom shelf.” Willa got the eggs out from the fridge. ”Do you want the cheddar?”

”Yes, please.” Mary Margaret started working on the sallat dressing.

”But if Emma really is the saviour then coexistence with the Evil Queen might be impossible.” Willa mused.

”Please don’t start.” Mary Margaret sighed in frustration. ”It’s bad enough that Henry believes, he doesn’t need you to encourage him.”

”Maybe that’s exactly what he needs, did you ever think of that?” She reached for the spices. ”Besides, it kind of makes sense.”

”How does it make sense?” She exclaimed. ”I am not Snow white!”

”You’d make an awesome Snow white, though.” Willa grinned. ”And I can totally buy the whole Evil Queen thing for Regins.”

”Oh, stop it.” But she was laughing too. ”Fine, if I’m Snow white, then where is my Prince Charming?”

”I don’t know.” She shrugged. ”Where did you last see him?”

”Willa.” She laughed even more.

”What?” She was only half-joking. ”It’s always the place you saw it last.”

”I don’t think that applies to humans.” Mary Margaret turned on the stove.

”It should.”

”Just give me the whisked eggs, would you.” She brought out the pan. ”And see if you could find that spate too, I always loose it.”

”Well, where did you last see that?” She looked around. ”Never mind, found it. Although what it was doing in the flower pot I have no idea. I’ll wash it off for you.”

”Thanks.”

=================================================================================

Willa was sitting in her favourite armchair, reading a book, and Mary Margaret was working on her latest needlecraft project. It was quiet and peaceful and Willa felt a sense of calm of it all. It was rare, that calmness, usually it was highly elusive. 

She supposed that was part of the whole ADHD thing she had going on. She had been diagnosed as a child and it was one of the many reasons why she was unable to hold down a steady job. It was also why she dropped out of high school, all those years ago. But sometimes, rarely, she could feel the calmness that came with living together with Mary Margaret. The woman was good for her, she knew. 

Of course, the calmness had to be disturbed. Someone was knocking on the door.

”I’ll get it.” She sighed and got up. ”Emma?”

”Hey?” She seemed equally as surprised to see Willa as Willa was to see her. ”Hi. Um, I’m looking for Mary Margaret. Maybe I have the wrong…”

”No, it’s the right one.” Mary Margaret came up behind her. ”Come on in.”

Willa didn’t move.

”Willa.” Mary Margaret half-whispered. ”You want to let her in?”

”Oh! Yes, sorry.” She shook herself and stepped aside. Where had her mind wandered off to, there?

”Oh, no, I… I just wanted to say thank you and um, pay back the bail money.” Emma didn’t follow but just handed over an envelope.

”Ooh, money.” Willa cooed and reached for it.

”Not yours!” Mary Margaret flicked her hand away as if she was some naughty child. 

”Spoilsport.” Willa pouted.

Emma looked between them amused but then sighed. Both residents picked up on the annoyance.

”Are you alright?” Willa tilted her head.

”You look like you need to talk.” Mary Margaret followed up. ”You sure you don’t want to come in? I have cookies.”

Willa laughed. ”Are you trying to bribe her? What is that they say about strangers and candy?”

”It’s cookies, not candy, and we’re hardly stranger.” Mary Margaret clarified. ”Come on, Emma. Just for a little while?”

Willa spun around with startling speed and headed for the kitchen area. ”I’ll put the kettle on!”

Emma didn’t really have a choice but to follow and in the end Mary Margaret ended up serving the blonde hot cocoa at the kitchen island.

”Cinnamon?” Emma asked after taking a sip.

”Oh, I'm sorry. I should have asked. It's a little quirk of mine. Do you mind?” Mary Margaret fretted as she brought the cookies on a plate. ”It’s just, Willa doesn’t drink hot cocoa so I’m used to just doing it for myself.”

”Not at all.” Emma looked thoughtful before realising something. ”Wait, you don’t drink hot cocoa?”

”Bad associations.” Willa answered. She had been drinking it when her parents… well. It was a long time ago. She touched her neck, where the scar was. That strange scar that she could not quite remember getting. It was hidden away from view most days, a conscious choice on her part, and even now it was obscured by her shirt. Emma noticed the act but didn’t comment on it but there was no doubt in her mind that if the blonde ever saw the scar, there would be plenty of comments - most of which would be questions. 

Mary Margaret offered the cookies and Willa was quick to crab at least four for herself.

”Cookie addict.” The teacher huffed before offering to Emma.

”What?” Willa defended. ”Cookies and tea. It’s how it’s supposed to be. And yes, that was meant to rhyme. It’s so that you can remember it easier.”

”Um, no thanks.” Emma declined, having decided to ignore what the strange girl had been saying. A novel approach, really, but it never seemed to work. Willa knew, she had plenty of experience when it came to people trying to ignore her. ”When you bailed me out, you said that you trusted me. Why?”

”It's strange; ever since you arrived here, I've had the oddest feeling, like we've met before. I mean, I know it's crazy.” Mary Margaret tried to get it down in words.

”It’s not crazy.” Willa informed her. ”There’s a curse going around, you know.”

”Yeah…” Emma glanced at her before continuing. ”Since I came here I’ve been re-evaluating my defintion of crazy.”

”For what it’s worth, I think you’re innocent.” Mary Margaret told her.

”Of breaking and entering, or just in general?”

”Whichever one that makes you feel better.” They both laughed.

”I can kind of see it.” Willa interrupted, having been looking from one to the other. ”The two of you.”

”What?” Mary Margaret asked, confused.

”The whole mother and daughter thing.” She explained. ”You do look sort of alike.”

They looked at each other, unwilling to comment. 

”Doesn't really matter what anyone thinks.” Emma shook herself out of it. ”I'm leaving. Thank you for everything, but I think it's for the best. If I stay, Henry's only gonna keep getting hurt.”

”Something bad is going to happen.” Willa told her in a sing-song voice.

”What do you mean?” Emma asked. 

”No one ever leaves.” She shrugged and then went back to her tea and cookies, no longer paying attention having said her piece. Emma looked at her, somewhat frustrated but equally confused. What the hell did that mean?

”what’s going to change if you leave?” Mary Margaret brought her attention away from Willa. ”I think the very fact that you want to leave is why you have to stay. You care about him. Who will protect Henry if you won’t?”

Who indeed?

Emma left shortly thereafter. Whether to leave town or just to leave them was unclear but she was gone all the same. Willa had returned to her book but the calmness refused to come back to her. Mary Margaret had looked like she wanted to tell her something but had held off for whatever reason. 

She kept munching on her cookies and drank her tea.

What a day.


	7. Snow Falls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so we've caught up! This is were I was forced to leave it at FFnet because the stupid system refused to let me update. This is the chapter that has been sitting in my folder for over six months. And it's really long, too. Like 22 pages...
> 
> Let me know what you think.

Another day, another day. Always with these pesky days. Willa really wasn’t a morning person.

Mary Margaret shook her awake, they had breakfast, Mary Margaret headed for the school, Willa stayed in and worked on some of her sketches. She went to Granny’s for lunch, gossiped and fooled around with Ruby for a while, hung out with Henry and Paige in the school yard after school let out while waiting for Mary Margaret. Headed home.

Helped her friend get ready for a date.

”Are you sure about this?” She asked Mary Margaret as the other woman was trying on a new outfit. Willa was lying down on her friend’s bed and offering advice, even though she wasn’t really qualified to be a fashion critic. ”I mean, it’s Whale.”

”I refuse to just sit around and wait for the right guy to come along, Willa.” Mary Margaret adjusted the top. ”I have to get out there and do some work myself.”

”But it’s Whale!” Willa felt the need to point out. 

”He’s a doctor and available and I don’t want to be alone.” She spun around. ”How do I look?”

”Like a school teacher.” At least she was brutally honest. ”And you’re not alone. Your Prince Charming is out there, you’ll see.”

Mary Margaret groaned. ”A school teacher.”

”That’s not a bad thing.” Willa shouted at her as she rushed down stairs to get a look in the full body mirror. ”You are a school teacher, after all! He knows this, he shouldn’t be surprised!”

She received no answer. 

”I’m pretty sure he’s not your Prince Charming.” She mumbled to herself. ”No way.”

Oh well, Mary Margaret would figure it out on her own. 

==============================================================================

”So she stayed, huh?” Willa confirmed.

”Yeah, she stayed. For Henry.” Mary Margaret nodded.

They were by the kitchen island and Mary Margaret had just come home from her (disastrous) date with Whale.

(”I told you so.”

”Shut up.”)

Mary Margaret had apparently run into Emma on her way back and they’d had a brief chat.

”So where is she staying? Still at Granny’s?”

”No, apparently not.” She shook her head. ”She’s crashing in her car for now. I offered our spare room but she said she’s not the ’roommate type’, whatever that means.”

”It means she prefers to live alone.” Willa explain and then paused. ”Or she’s scared of us.”

”Why would she be scared?” Mary Margaret laughed. ”How are we scary?”

”Well, not us, per say. Like, we’d make it too real for her, or something. Living in her car she could still escape at any point, moving in with someone is more permanent.” Willa sipped her tea.

”That almost makes sense.” 

”Don’t look so surprised.” Willa told her, affronted.

”I said almost.” Mary Margaret teased. ”Oh, by the way, I forgot to ask earlier. The class is going to the hospital tomorrow, you know, to decorate and stuff. You want to chaperone?”

”You just don’t want to face Whale alone with a bunch of ten-year olds.” Willa giggled. ”But sure, I’d love to.”

”Alright.”

Sleep. Dream, possibly. Not that she could remember. Wake up.

”Come on, Willa.” Mary Margaret greeted in her cheeriest voice, knowing how much it grated on her nerves. ”We’re leaving in half an hour.”

”Ugh.” Mary Margaret opened the curtains. ”Gah! Too bright! It burns!”

”Oh, stop it, you baby.” The mean teacher pulled her covers off.

”Coldness!” She shivered. ”Are you even human?”

”Come on.” She goaded her reluctant friend. ”I made you tea.”

”… you’re forgiven.”

Spending the day at the hospital, keeping track of a gaggle of ten-year olds, is actually more fun then you’d expect. She would help the kids hang up banners and talk with the patients and just generally goof around. The whole point was to get the patients spirits up so some level of goofing around was allowed and the kids loved it. 

”Here, Jason, let me help you with that before you fall and hurt yourself.” She took the banner out of his hands and climbed up on the small step-ladder. ”Hand me some tape, will you.”

”Willa!” Paige ran up to her with a card in her hand. ”How do you spell ’appendix’?”

”Hold on.” She fasted the last corner and climbed down. ”Here, let me see.”

The girl showed her the card she’d been making. ”You need another ’p’ and it ends with an ’x’, sweetie.”

She looked around, making sure nothing was going wrong, when she spotted Henry entering the glass cage at the far end of the room. She joined him.

”I don’t think you’re supposed to be in here, kid.” She told him but did nothing to get him out. There was only one patient in the room and something about him… ”Hey, is that…?”

”You see it too?” Henry asked her eagerly. 

”Prince Charming.” The said together.

”So this is where he’s been?” Willa took a closer look. ”No wonder we haven’t seen him around town!”

”John Doe.” Henry read of the chart hanging of the bed.

”Henry.” Mary Margaret entered behind them. ”Willa, we could really use your help with the decorations.”

”Is Mr. Doe going to be okay, Miss Blanchard?” Henry looked at his teacher.

”His name’s not John Doe, honey. That’s just what they call people when they don’t know who they are.” She explained to him softly.

”Don’t know?” Willa thought about this. ”How can they not know? It’s not exactly a large town. Surely someone must know?”

”If they do, they haven’t come forward.” Mary Margaret shook her head. ”Or they don’t know where he is.”

”Do you know who he is?” Henry sent her a meaningful look that she entirely failed to notice.

”No. I just bring him flowers on my rounds.” She smiled sadly.

”What’s wrong with him?” Henry wondered.

”I don’t know. He’s been like this as long as I’ve been volunteering.”

”That’s so sad.” Willa sighed. ”To have been here so long and still no one knows who he is.”

”No one has claimed him.” Mary Margaret nodded along with the sentiment.

”So… he’s all alone.” Henry stated solemnly.

”Yes, it’s quite sad. Now come on. You shouldn't be in here.” She lead them both back out again.

Henry and Willa exchanged a look. No way were they going to let this lie. As the class left the hospital and started heading back to the school for the parents to pick them up, Henry grabbed a hold of Willa and held them back.

”You thinking what I am thinking?” The boy asked her excitedly.

”Yep.” She popped. ”The castle.”

”Come on.” They sneaked away.

”Do you have the book?” Willa asked as they jogged their way to the shoreline.

”Always.” He answered. ”And we’re going to need Emma.”

”Do you have her number?” She wondered as they reached the intended target.

”Duh.” He rabbled off a string of numbers to her as she dialed.

”Hello?”

”Hi, this is Willa. Henry needs you at the castle, asap.”

”What? How did you…?”

”Just come.” She hung up and turned to match Henry’s grin. ”She should be on her way.”

”Good.”

They both climbed into the castle and sat down. Henry started flipping through the pages of his book while Willa watched.

Her phone rang.

”Where are you?” It was Mary Margaret.

”I’m skiving off, duh.” She said. ”Oh, and Henry’s with me, so no worries. He’s in good hands.”

Next to her the boy laughed. 

”What?” She huffed. ”My hands are totally good.”

”Whatever.” 

”Cheeky.” She made a face at him before talking to Mary Margaret again. ”We’re cool. I’ll see you later, yeah?”

”Fine.” The teacher clearly did not approve but what could she do? ”Don’t do anything stupid.”

”Who? Me?” She asked. ”Psh, never!”

And she hung up. 

”Here. I found him.” Henry showed her the page.

”Yep, that’s definitely Mr. John Doe.” She nodded just as Emma’s yellow bug pulled up by the playground.

”Shouldn’t you be in school?” Was the first thing she asked as she got close.

”School lets out in like twenty minutes.” Willa defended him. ”Besides, we found something.”

”What?” The blonde resigned herself as soon as she saw the book in her son’s hands.

”Your father.” Henry told her and showed the picture. ”Prince Charming.”

”Henry…” Emma sighed.

”He’s in the hospital, in a coma. See the scar?” He pointed. ”The guy in the hospital has one exactly like it in the same place.”

”What a coincidence.” Willa gasped dramatically making Emma glance at her.

”Seriously?”

”What? I saw him too. They look exactly the same.” She told her.

”Don’t you see what this means?” Henry asked her excitedly. ”The curse is keeping them apart with the coma. Now they’re stuck without each other. We have to tell Miss Blanchard we found her Prince Charming.”

”Ooh, she’s going to love that. Especially after Whale last night.” Willa laughed.

”Okay, kid. Telling someone their... soul mate is in a coma is probably not helpful. Not having a happy ending is painful enough, but giving someone unrealistic hope is far worse.” Emma tried to reason with him.

”But what if I’m right?” Henry was nothing if not stubborn. ”We know who they are. Now they have to know.”

”And how do you intend to make that happen?” Emma asked.

”Yeah?” Willa mused. ”How do we wake him up?”

”We don’t.” Henry explained, clearly already having a plan in mind. ”That’s Ms. Blanchard’s job. We have to get her to read their story to John Doe. Then, maybe, he’ll remember who he is.”

”Good idea.” Willa smiled. ”Her voice, their story.”

Emma looked between them, realising that this was going to happen one way or another. She really didn’t understand Willa; a grown woman fully believing the tales of a young boy. At first she thought she was just playing along, kind of like how she herself was, but that wasn’t the case. The girl truly believed in it. Emma just didn’t get it.

”Okay.” So she just had to turn it around, somehow.

”Okay?” Henry was surprised by this.

”Yeah, we’ll do it. But we’ll do it my way. Let me ask her.”

”Alright.” They both agreed.

Emma had told Willa to get Henry home after that, presumably so that she could ask Mary Margaret in private, so they both walked through the park, eagerly discussing this new turn of events.

”Do you really think Mary Margaret can wake him?” Willa wondered.

”If anyone can…” He smiled. ”We just have to have faith.”

”Oh, I have plenty of that.” She laughed. ”I believe in you, don’t I.”

==============================================================================

”You want me to read to a coma patient?”

Elsewhere, in her apartment, Mary Margaret was trying to grasp exactly what it was Emma was asking of her.

”Henry thinks it will help him remember who he was.” Emma shrugged. ”And your roommate agrees with him.”

”And, who do they think he was?” Mary Margaret had to ask.

”Prince Charming.” Emma told her. God, how strange had her life turned out since coming to Storybrooke? She was actually using phrases like ’prince charming’ and ’evil queen’ in sentences.

”And they both think I’m Snow white which would make me and him… us…” Mary Margaret laughed. ”Well, she did say that he was out there somewhere.”

”What?” Emma asked.

”Willa.” Mary Margaret tried to explain. ”She said that my Prince Charming was out there somewhere, I just had to remember where I last saw him. Like I lost him, or something. And now she’s actually found him for me. Oh, I got to hand it to her.”

”Yeah…” Emma hesitated, not entirely sure how to phrase it. ”About Willa?”

”You have questions.” Mary Margaret nodded in complete understanding. ”I think most who meet her do.”

”She believes.” Emma really didn’t want to make it sound inconsiderate or rude so she just stuck to very simple terms.

”Yes, yes she does.” Mary Margaret smiled sadly. ”Don’t ask me why. I have no idea. She just does.”

”The two of you…” she started. ”How did you…?”

”Get to be roommates?” Mary Margaret finished for her. ”Willa’s had a… shall we say, difficult life? The ADHD certainly didn’t help matters. But we’ve always been friends, for as long as I can remember. So when she needed a place to stay…”

”You offered.” Emma finished. The ADHD explained some things and she could understand the whole ’difficult life’ thing also. She guess Willa just had a different way of dealing with things.

”Yeah.” She nodded. ”She’s a good girl. And she’s a good friend. Not just to me but to Henry as well.”

”Yeah, I noticed.” She decided to let the matter lie. ”Anyway, about this whole Prince Charming thing.”

”Yes, do explain what exactly you mean.” Mary Margaret was grateful for the change. ”I can understand the two of them wanting me to read, but why you?”

”Henry has a very active imagination, which is kind of the point. I can’t talk him out of his beliefs, so we need to show him. Play along, do what he says and then maybe, just maybe…”

”He’ll see that fairy tales are just that, that there’s no such thing as love at first sight or first kiss. He’ll see reality.” Mary Margaret continued.

”Something like that.”

”Well.. sadly, this plan is rather genius. We get him to the truth without hurting him.”

”I told him that we will all meet tomorrow for breakfast at Granny’s. And you will give a full report.” Emma informed her. 

”Well, I suppose I’ll get ready for my date. I guess I’ll have to do all the talking.”

==============================================================================

_”What is it that you do exactly, anyway?” Alice asked him, as they lay among the wildflowers watching the stars dance above them._

_”What I do?” Jefferson looked at her through a sideway glance. ”This and that.”_

_”Avoiding the question. But never mind. You’ll tell me, one day.” She said, entirely certain of this, before pointing up at one constellation in particular. ”That’s the Walrus and the Carpenter.”_

_”A walrus and a carpenter?” He squinted his eyes. ”Nope, don’t see it.”_

_”It’s right there. See that circle with the smaller circle on top, that’s the Walrus. And next to it, it kind of looks like a stick man with a hammer.” She followed the outline with her hand. ”And see those small dots underneath? Those are the Oysters.”_

_”What do oysters have to do with anything?” Jefferson asked._

_”They eat them.” She told him. ”The Walrus tricked the small oyster babies and devoured them whole.”_

_”What of the carpenter?”_

_”Oh, he wanted to eat too, but a Walrus have such a big appetite and he wasn’t quick enough.” Alice giggled._

_”Poor oysters.” He smiled. ”Such innocent things, really.”_

_”And see that one, off to the side, that’s the Rose and the Thorn.” She pointed further to the left. ”The Thorn loved the Rose so much but was unable to be with her. Then he saw the other Roses being picked and plucked from the Rose-patch by a monster of awful proportions. He wanted to save his beloved from such a fate and in a desperate sprint he ran at her, with the intent of making her duck, but she never saw him coming. The Thorn, with all his force, impaled her.”_

_”Ouch.” Jefferson closed his eyes, intently focusing on her voice and nothing else._

_”Never again would his beloved sing to him. And it made him so sad that he cried many tears and each and every tear formed a new thorn, all of which attached themselves to the Rose in sorrow, intent to never let her go. And since then, Roses must have Thorns. For the Thorns protect their flowers with all their might, in memory of that one first true love.” She ended._

_”That’s beautiful.” He smiled. ”What of that one?”_

_”That’s the Striped Jaguar and the Spotted Tiger.” She told him._

_”Sounds intriguing.” He gestured to her to continue._

_”Well, the Jaguar accuse the Tiger of stealing his spots out of jealousy but the Tiger, outraged by this, accuses the Jaguar of doing the same. They go to court, you know, to get it all sorted out.”_

_”And do they? Get it sorted out, I mean.”_

_”It turns out that it was the Dodo bird who had exchanged their stripes and spotts while they slept, as a punishment for overrunning his territory. Dodo birds are quite territorial.” She answered. ”Thus we say; never judge the Tiger by his spots, because the Dodo stole his stripes.”_

_”Sort of like; never jump to conclusions.” Jefferson alliterated._

_”Who would jump?” Alice asked. ”Sprinting is much more fun.”_

_This made him laugh. And laugh some more. And then he sat up and turned to face her._

_”You are one of a kind, you know.” He grinned._

_”Naturally.” She said as if this was an obvious conclusion. ”What’s the point in being someone else?”_

_”What’s the point indeed.” He leaned down on his elbows. ”You wouldn’t be you if you were someone else.”_

_”Precisely.” She grinned up at him. ”What of your stars? Where you come from, do they have stories to tell as well?”_

_”I’m sure they do, but I wasn’t listening.” He shrugged._

_”Shame on you.” She huffed. ”How impolite.”_

_”I know.” He admitted gravely. ”But now I know better.”_

_”I certainly hope so.”_

_He was leaning further in. She noticed but didn’t stop him. The stars were forgotten behind him, all she could see was his eyes. Stars of their own._

_Their lips met._

==============================================================================

”Hold up, say that again.” Willa tried to get Mary Margaret to slow down so that she could wrap her head around this. 

”He woke up!” The school teacher told her in extreme excitement. 

”…” Willa took a moment to process this. ”I knew it!”

”Yes, I…” She paused, her excitement momentarily forgotten. ”Wait, what do you mean you ’knew it’?”

Willa just smiled.

”Oh no!” Mary Margaret started shaking her finger at the blonde. ”No, no, no, no,no! That’s not…”

”I can’t wait until Henry hears about this.” Willa nodded to herself, not at all listening to her friend. 

”Are you even…? No, Willa, just no!” Mary Margaret shook her head furiously. ”That’s not even close… and I’m not… we’re not… he and I… I’ve never even met him, for God’s sake!”

”Sure you have.” Willa grinned at her. ”You just don’t remember. But no worries, these things have a way of working themselves out.”

”I’m not worried!” She paused. ”Well, about you, I am. Don’t go thinking any more about this, you hear me! That’s just not happening.”

”Henry will be so stoked!” Willa just laughed and got up. She was halfway to the stairs when Mary Margaret’s voice called her attention back.

”And Emma will not be pleased.” The school, teacher was no doubt thinking out loud, not at all addressing Willa, but she answered anyway.

”She will learn to live with it.” She soothed her. ”After all, what kid wouldn’t want their parents together and - you know - awake.”

”We’re not…!” Mary Margaret sighed, seeing the futile effort for what it was and decided to simply let it go, this time. She thought back to the conversation she’d had with Emma earlier. ”Somehow, I don’t think that will be her reaction, at all.”

It was the next morning and as promised they were all going to meet up at Granny’s for a status update. Mary Margaret couldn’t help but be excited (he had woken up, however briefly), Emma’s expectations be damned, and Willa was equally excited at this new development. Her friend needed her True Love and he needed to be awake. 

They entered the diner, spotting Henry and his mother (the newest one) at one of the tables. Wasting no time on formalities, Mary Margaret dove right in.

”He woke up!” 

Willa didn’t even bother to hide her laugh, Emma’s face was hilarious.

”What?” The blonde clearly couldn’t believe it.

”I knew it!” Henry grinned his widest grin.

”I know.” She grinned right back at him. 

”I mean, he didn't ’wake up’ wake up,” Mary Margaret tried to explain but her excitement shone through ”but he grabbed my hand.”

”He’s remembering!” Henry concluded, to Emma’s dismay. Desperate to bring them all back to reality she spoke up.

”What did the doctors say?” She asked.

”That I imagined it, but I’m not crazy. I know it happened.” The school teacher was adamant.

”Of course you’re not crazy.” Willa made her best to sound offended. ”You are the sanest person I know.”

Emma seemed to visibly be restraining herself from saying something, anything, at this. Something along the lines of ”you should know” or ”thats not really saying much” but drew herself together at the last second. Now really wasn’t the time.

”We have to go back. You have to read to him again.” Henry stated, making three of them nod their heads determinedly.

”Let’s go.” Mary Margaret got up, having barely been sitting down for a full minute.

”For once the princess get’s to wake up the prince.” Willa giggled. ”Talk about role-reversal.”

”It is the twenty first century, after all.” Henry nodded along with a grin. They looked at each other, gave one last definitive nod and said together:

”Modernity!” They both broke out in laughter, not noticing that the two older women had stayed behind somewhat.

”If I got through to him, if we made a connection…” Mary Margaret was trying to explain her less-than-rational actions to her new friend.

”You don’t believe…?” Emma glanced at her son up ahead.

”That he’s Prince Charming? Of course not.” She scoffed, gently. ”But somehow, some way, I touched him.”

She walked ahead, joining the two younger members of their party, leaving the blonde behind in a confused daze. 

”No way.” She muttered. ”Absolutely no way.”

In the end, she followed.

In less than ten minutes they had all arrived at the hospital, only to be greeted by a beehive of activity. There were people everywhere and not just doctors either.

”What is Graham…?” Willa wondered at seeing the Sheriff present.

Henry though, interpreted the buzzing positively. ”You are right, he is waking up!”

His voice drew the Sheriff’s eye to all of them and he made quick work approaching them.

”Henry, you should stay back.” He warned but the boy pressed through.

”What’s going on? Is it John Doe? Is he okay?” Mary Margaret fretted.

”He’s missing.” Graham told her, making them all snap toward him. Willa would have said something, demanded for some sort of explanation (how does a supposedly comatose patient just up and go missing in a staffed hospital without anyone noticing!?), but she never got the chance. Regina Mills was there, and she was not happy to see them.

”What the hell are you doing here?” The Mayor spat at Emma, the contemptment not even trying to disguise itself, before she turned to Henry. ”And you… I thought you were at the arcade. Now you’re lying to me?” 

”Arcade?” Willa interrupted, looking at Henry in surprise. ”That’s what you went with? Mom, I’m off to the arcade? What is this, the eighties?”

He stuck his tongue out at her and the Mayor glared at her.

”Not that that’s what’s relevant right now…” She laughed nervously and turned away from them. The Mayor was scary.

”What happened to John Doe? Did someone take him?” Mary Margaret brought them back to the situation at hand. 

”We don’t know yet. His IVs were ripped out but there’s no sign for sure there’s a struggle.” Graham answered, gesturing behind him at the commotion. 

Henry glared up at his mother (the adopted one). ”What did you do?”

”You think I had something to do with this?” Regina sounded hurt. Not that she was denying the accusation or anything, but the fact that said accusation came from her son clearly stung. 

”It is curious that the mayor is here.” Emma spoke up, suspicion evident in her facial expression. 

”I’m here because I’m his emergency contact.” Regina shot back at her, the sass and anger mixed into one.

”Why are you, of all people, his emergency contact?” Willa just had to ask. ”I thought no one even knew who he was?”

”I found him.” She answered, not even looking at her but rather her stare still locked on onto Emma. ”On the side of the road years ago with no ID. I brought him here.”

”Mayor Mills saved his life.” Dr Whale came over, jumping into the conversation. Willa looked him over, thinking back to Mary Margaret’s description of their disastrous date the other night. Yeah, he even looked like a creep. Why her roomie had ever agreed to a diner date with the sleaze bag she’d never understand. He was a good doctor though, it had to be said. 

”Will he be okay?” Mary Margaret sounded really worried for someone who claimed she didn’t know him. 

”Okay? The man’s been on feeding tubes for years on constant supervision. He needs to get back here right away or, quite honestly, ’okay' might be a pipe dream.” Dr Whale explained, not a little amount of urgency in his voice. 

”Well then, let’s quit yapping and start looking.” Emma told them all only to be told off by Regina.

”That’s what we’re doing. Just stay out of this, dear.” Regina grabbed a hold of Henry’s shoulder. ”And since I clearly can’t keep you away from my son, I guess I’m just going to have to keep my son away from you. Enjoy my shirt, because that’s all you’re getting.”

Willa started at that. Shirt? What shirt? She looked over at Emma, only just now noticing the purple blouse she was wearing. That was far too fancy for anything she’d seen the blonde wear before. How the bio-mom had even gotten her hands on one of Regina’s shirts was beyond her, but she did look good in it. 

But Regina was still talking.

”Sheriff, find John Doe. You heard Dr. Whale. Time is precious.” And then she stalked off, Henry having no choice to follow, leaving the rest of them behind. 

”Doctor, how long between your rounds since you last saw him?” Graham wasted no time in starting.

”Twelve hours, or so.” Was the answer.

”Then that’s what we need to account for.” 

And accounting for it they did; which is why ten minutes later found them all holed up in the janitor’s closet which coincidentally also doubled as the hospital’s security central. Willa questioned her own presence in what seemed to be a police investigation but then again… both Emma and Mary Margaret were there too. And while Emma could have some sort of use (hello, bail bonds person!) the fact that Willa and her school teacher roommate were there really had no explanation. But whatever, they were invested and Graham so far had no complaints. 

”You two were the only employees on the floor last night. And you saw nothing?” Graham questioned the two hospital staff who were present the night before. Willa had waved cheerily to Leroy when they entered (he’d grumbled back) but she didn’t actually know the other guy’s name.

”Not a thing.” Mystery guy answered, shrugging his shoulders. 

Willa looked back at the monitor. It was suspiciously calm on the screen, seeing as one of the patients were supposed to be waking up and wander off - or worse, be grabbed and dragged off. And there was something… off about it, she just couldn’t put her finger on what.

”Did anyone walk by?” Emma asked. She was different now, as opposed to before. More serious somehow. She had her ”professional” face on.

”I didn't see nothin’.” Leroy shrugged and Willa was struck by similarities between the two men. Maybe they were brothers? They didn’t look alike, not really, but they were somehow similar. How peculiar.

”Miss Blanchard, was there anything unusual you saw during your trip with your class?” Graham turned to Mary Margaret, trying to find something of value.

”I don’t think so.” She answered thoughtfully. ”Was there, Willa?”

”Um, no.” She too shrugged, not being able to remember anything of particular note. But Emma did.

”We’re looking at the wrong tape.” She interrupted, making them all look at her. ”This is the ward where Henry’s class put up decorations. If this was really the tape from last night, we’d see the banners the kids hung.” 

As one they all looked at the monitor again. So that’s what it was! She knew she was missing something!

”Tch, you fell asleep again.” Leroy huffed at his friend. 

”You selling me out?” Mystery guy asked incredulously.

”I’m not getting fired for this.” Leroy defended angrily. 

”At least I don’t drink on the job.” The mystery guy was quick to shoot back.

”Gentlemen, enough.” Graham intervened before they got a full blown bitch-fight on their hands and steered them back on topic. ”Where’s the real tape?”

Leroy was more than happy to oblige, showing that he could be a good worker (as opposed to his friend), and they fast forwarded it to the vital part.

”Well, at least we know he wasn’t kidnapped or something.” Willa commented as they watched John Doe wake up and stagger outside all by his lonesome.

”He walked out alone. He’s okay.” Mary Margaret heaved a sigh of relief, strangely attached to the man she had never properly met. She decided not to question it.

”Four hours ago. Where does this door lead?” Emma asked Leroy who answered sombrely.

”The woods.”

==============================================================================

_”Alright, we all clear on the plan?”_

_”Yes, Will. We’re all clear on the plan.” Alice rolled her eyes. ”It’s not exactly a difficult plan.”_

_”I don’t know about this…” The Rabbit wrung his ears worriedly._

_”It’ll be fine, Rabbit.” Will assured him._

_”Yeah, after all, the Queen’s dungeons were designed to prevent people from breaking out, not in.” Alice smiled cheerily at the anxious animal._

_”As long as we’re all clear on the plan.” Will nodded._

_”Ask me about the plan again, Knave, and I’ll break your nose.” Alice warned him in her most threatening voice._

_”This is so dangerous.” The Rabbit jumped from foot to foot in nervousness. ”Wouldn’t it be better to just…”_

_”Rabbit!” Alice grabbed ahold of his shoulders, steadying him in place. ”Do you or do you not want to see your family again?”_

_”Of course I do!” He answered angrily._

_”Then stop fretting! It’ll be fine.” Will rubbed his hands together. ”Alice, you know what to do?”_

_”… You do realise I’m going to have to break your nose now, right?” She sighed and got ready to do just that, raising her fist in the air._

_”No, no, no!” He raised his arms in defence. ”Sorry.”_

_”You better be.” She huffed. ”But yes, I do know what to do.”_

_”Then let’s do it.” Will got ready._

_”I’m still not sure…” But the Rabbit never got further than that because suddenly it was too late._

_Colour-bombs, everywhere. Puffs of colourful smoke exploded all over the Queen’s castle. Laid out with extreme precision over night (with some help from the Doormouse and her twenty-four sisters) the harmless explosives did nothing to hurt but everything to distract. Pink, purple, green, yellow, orange, blue, white… every colour under the sun except red._

_The Queen of Heart’s garden of precious red roses; no longer red, the bushes taking on the countenance of a psychedelic rainbow on crack. The Queen’s castle walls, before high esteemed white marble, now looked like something an army of children with finger-paints had been set loose upon. The explosives were everywhere._

_The trio, sitting just outside the gates and hidden among the bushes, didn’t really see much of this. But they did hear it._

_”Gah!”_

_”What the…!”_

_”My eyes!”_

_”My dress!”_

_”We’re under attack!”_

_”What is happening?!”_

_”Get yourself together, man! It’s only paint!”_

_”My new coat! It’s orange!”_

_”My horses! They’re pink!”_

_”What do we do? Captain?”_

_”My hair!”_

_And so it went on. They could hear the entire castle screaming out in outrage and confusion. It was hilarious._

_”Ha ha, just imagine the look on their faces.” Will was sniggering, unable to stop himself._

_Alice too was laughing. ”I wonder how the Queen likes her new colour scheme in her bedroom?”_

_”Priceless!” They broke, laughing loudly._

_”Will you please concentrate!” The Rabbit hushed them anxiously._

_”Right, yes.” Will tried to pull himself together and cleared his throat. ”Phase two.”_

_”Okay.” Alice forcefully removed the grin from her face. ”I’m ready.”_

_”Then let’s do it.”_

_And they both snuck inside, the chaos from the colour-bombs more than enough cover to get them in, leaving the fretting Rabbit behind._

_”Oh dear, oh dear.” He wrung his ears in panic. ”Oh dear, oh dear.”_

_They split up once inside the walls. Alice headed for the Great Hall whereas Will went straight for the dungeons. The Knave was the rescue-party, Alice was the distraction._

_Even from well outside the Great Hall she could hear the Queen screeching. She couldn’t tell exactly what the royal was screaming but it didn’t matter; she’d give her something else to scream about soon enough._

_”How could you let this happen?!” The Queen screamed in fury. ”You are supposed to prevent any and all attacks!”_

_Alice entered the Great Hall unseen; all eyes focused on the raging Queen. The room was full with guards and courtiers, all of whom were hit by the colourful explosives, and at the very end was the Queen. Alice stopped just one step through the door, taking in the sight before her._

_The Queen of Hearts who usually prided herself on her blood red garments and black satin, who always wore tasteful make-up and white gloves, was now decked out in orange and lime green. The squirts of colour covering her in no discernible pattern, Alice realised that not even the Queen’s raven locks had gone unpunished and had been taken a rather distinctive bright yellow hue._

_She couldn’t help it, she laughed. Loudly._

_The entire room snapped to attention, turning their heads abruptly toward her. Even the Queen ceased her screeching, snapping her mouth shut and turning her eyes into angry lasers._

_”You.” It was almost a whisper, passing through the Queen’s lips, but everyone heard it. The poisoned voice filled up the hall, making everyone shiver. Everyone, that is, except for Alice._

_”Oh, boy.” Alice laughed. ”Look at you.”_

_The guards and courtiers all scattered away, pressing themselves up against the walls, leaving a clear path between the two. Someone gulped._

_”You!” The Queen screamed, her magic reacting and shattering the windows outward. The regent stood up from her throne and started marching toward the perceived miscreant. ”You did this!”_

_”Of course I did.” Alice shrugged, not at all bothered by the royal stomping toward her. ”It suits you, I think. You should wear orange more often.”_

_The Queen said nothing at this, but let out a roar, and swung her hand out at her. Alice saw the magic coming and thanks to years worth of dodging teacups she simply side-stepped it. The wave of magic flew right past her and crashed into the wall behind her, exploding the stone wall and coating everyone in a cloud of dust. While the rest of them room coughed and sneezed Alice took her cue and walked right back out of the room, hoping over the fallen boulders, and shouted back to the Queen._

_”Catch me if you can, you old hag!”_

_All she received in response was another screech and the thundering footsteps informing her that she was being chased after. Exactly as she wanted it. She would lead them away from the dungeons and away from Will’s rescue party and on a merry chase through the castle. Will said he’d need at least fifteen minutes; she would give it to him._

_And she would enjoy every second of it._

==============================================================================

Willa had decided to join their little rescue party, despite not really feeling needed, only because Mary Margaret could not be persuaded not to. She wasn’t about to let her friend wander about the woods, looking for her prince charming, all by her lonesome. Of course, she wasn’t all by her lonesome seeing as both Emma and Graham was with her, but still; it was the principle of the thing. 

So Willa joined and was currently bringing up the rear. 

It was dark out and the air was chilly but it didn’t bother her in the slightest. Willa felt at ease in the woods for some reason, though she couldn’t fathom why, and somehow she lacked the urgency the others were no doubt feeling. She knew things were critical and it was an actual life-and-death situation but somehow… somehow the anxiety wouldn’t come. It was like the situation failed to faze her, as if she’d been through something similar before. Except she knew she hadn’t. Unless… well, she was cursed after all.

Lost in thought she bumped into Mary Margaret as they all stopped, following Graham’s example.

”Oomph.” She rubbed her scrunched nose in dismay. Would kill them all to give some kind of warning?

”What is it?” Emma asked.

”The trail runs out here.” Graham answered, gesturing to something Willa couldn’t see.

”You sure? Because I thought tracking was one of your skills.” Emma baited. 

”Just give me a second. This is my world.” He shot right back. ”I got it.”

”Right. Sorry.” Emma sighed, frustrated. It’s not like she meant to be so… testy. This whole situation was just so stupid. And Regina. Regina was stupid too.

”What does he mean ’his world’?” Mary Margaret spoke up, looking at Emma. ”Isn’t finding people your thing too?”

”Sure.” The blonde shrugged. ”Just, people I find usually run places like Vegas. Not a lot hit the woods.”

”Well, look at it this way.” Willa grinned, trying to lighten the mood a little. ”Now you get to practise. You know, learn something new. Enhancing your skill set.”

Emma gave her a funny look. ”I suppose.”

”It’s an interesting job; finding people. How’d you fall into it?” Mary Margaret kept the conversation going.

”Looking for people is just what I’ve done. As long as I can remember.” She waved it away.

”As long as you can remember…” Willa mumbled to herself. ”Only, I don’t remember.”

What did she remember, really? Willa believed in the Curse, like Henry. She just knew that it was the truth. But that meant that what she could remember wasn’t real, it wasn’t actually her memories. They were a story, created by the Evil Queen. It felt so real. Only it wasn’t. And it didn’t always. Sometimes, in that place between asleep and awake where dreams still linger, she could feel it break apart; that story Regina had written her. It felt less real. That’s why she believed. Because the seams were cracking and slowly she could tell that there was something behind them in the dark. 

”Henry!” Mary Margaret’s shout startled her out of her reverie. And indeed, the ten year old was climbing through the woodwork toward them , flashlight in hand and a wide grin adorning his face.

”Did you find him yet?” He asked, eager to help.

”No, not yet.” Emma answered, and then tried to sound somewhat stern (not really). ”You shouldn’t be here.”

”I can help.” Henry grinned at them. ”I know where he’s going.”

”And where’s that?” Mary Margaret asked, in a I’m-humouring-you voice.

Henry turned to her and told her in no uncertain terms exactly what he knew. ”He’s looking for you.”

”Henry…” Emma started, but Willa cut her off.

”Of course!” God, she felt kind of stupid for not thinking of it sooner. ”You’re right.”

”I know I am.” He told her cheekily.

”It makes sense.” Willa nodded, already sold on the idea. ”He’s searching for her and naturally he’s doing it in the forest, it’s where they first met!”

They both nodded at each other before turning back to the others, determined in their beliefs - as always.

”You’re the one who woke him up.” Henry started.

”He recognised your voice when you read to him.” Willa followed.

”You’re the last one he saw, before. He wants to find you!” Henry kept going.

”Henry.” Mary Margaret decided to only focus on the younger of them, finding it difficult to argue against both of them, as always. Besides, strange as it had always seemed to her, she knew that Henry was the… ring-leader, for lack of a better word, between them. Willa always followed his lead. ”It’s not just about me. I just… I think he’s lost and confused. He’s been in a coma a long time.”

”But he loves you!” Henry tried to convince her. ”You need to stop chasing him, and let him find you.”

”Kid.” Emma stepped in, trying out the voice of reason. ”You need to go home. Where’s your mom? She’s going to kill me and then you… and then me again.”

Willa found herself nodding to this; she could almost picture it.

”She dropped me at the house and then went right out.” He answered, not at all bothered by the prospect.

”Well, we need to get you back immediately.” His (new) mom started to walk toward him, no doubt about to drag him back home.

”No!” He refused. He would not abandon this newest quest. 

”Guys!” Graham suddenly yelled out to them, reminding them that he was there. ”Look.”

He’d found John Doe’s hospital bracelet. He really was a good tracker.

”Is that…?” Mary Margaret focused on the bracelet and, more importantly, what stained it.

”Blood.” Emma confirmed it, making them all go silent for a precious twenty seconds.

”Right.” Graham pulled himself together, the urgency in his tone making them all snap to attention. ”No time to waste.”

Emma sighed, realising she couldn’t risk taking Henry back home again; wasting time and probably useless seeing as he looked determined enough to simply follow after her again. There were other more pressing concerns.

”Let’s keep searching.”

So they searched. Everywhere. Willa was starting to get tired; they’d been at it all day. Just as she started fearing the worst, they found him. Well, Mary Margaret found him.

He was at the old Toll Bridge, of all places. Still dressed in the very thin, very wet, hospital gown and soaked in cold water. 

And he seemed to be suffering from memory loss. 

”Who are you?” Mary Margaret asked the shivering man she was holding in her arms.

”I don’t know.” He looked distressed and confused and cold all at once, prompting the school teacher to hold him tighter.

”It’s okay.” She soothed him, speaking the words she somehow knew were true. ”You’re going to be okay.”

Henry and Willa watched from a distance, as Graham called it in to the hospital and he started talking with Emma about how to get the patient back there. Henry had a hold of her hand and they both watched, entranced.

”They belong together.” Henry told her, in hushed whispers as to not break the moment. 

”I don’t think truer words have ever been spoken.” Willa nodded in awe.

There was just something about the two of them together on the river bank like that. Like a light that only they could see. Willa couldn’t explain it, but she knew. She could feel it. It made her feel slightly morose; wondering if she would ever have something like that. Something even half as true as that. 

Henry, it seemed, was a mindreader. Without her speaking even one of those words out loud he still looked at her with a soft smile. ”You will find yours too, one day.”

”What?” She tore her eyes away from the two not-lovers on the bank. ”What do you mean?”

”Your one true love.” He sounded absolute certain of this fact. ”The Mad Hatter. You will find him.”

”Right.” She pulled herself together. ”Because I’m Alice.”

”Exactly.” He smiled. ”Alice and her Hatter. One day.”

She smiled softly, thinking about this ”love of her life” that she couldn’t remember. ”Wouldn’t that be the day.”

”Guys!” Emma came up behind them, as the ambulance Graham had called for arrived. ”We need to get out of the way and let them work.”

Back at the hospital, however, the magical bubble that earlier had engulfed Mary Margaret and her Prince Charming burst. It was unexpected and sudden and none of them saw it coming. It came in the form of a hysterical blonde woman, rushing through the hospital ward, screeching sobbingly about a ”David”. 

”Who is that?” Mary Margaret asked the question they were all wondering about. None of them saw Regina Mills walking up behind them, and when she spoke, Emma was the only one who didn’t jump.

”His wife.” She told them acidly. 

She didn’t elaborate until after the patient (David, now) had been stabilised. They were sitting outside the room, on highly uncomfortable chairs, nervously waiting for news. Well, Mary Margaret was nervous. Willa felt something more akin to restlessness, and not a fair bit of anxiety. Somehow, it felt like they had lost. Which was absurd, because there had been no competition. But still, there was a sense of loss.

”His name is David Nolan. And that’s his wife, Kathryn. And the joy on her face, well, it’s put me in quite the forgiving mood.” Regina told them before turning to Henry. ”We’ll talk about your insubordination later. Do you know what insubordination means?” He shook his head defiantly. ”It means you’re grounded.”

Willa winced and gave him a sympathetic shrug. There wasn’t much else she could do; he had gotten caught sneaking out, after all. 

The woman, Kathryn, came out of the room and adressed them all gratefully. ”Thank you. Thank you for finding David.”

Willa refused to look at her. Something was off. The other’s felt it as well.

”Um, I-I don’t understand. You didn't…you didn't know that he was here in a coma?” Mary Margaret sounded extremely confused, and strangely heartbroken. It was small, but it was there.

”A few years ago, David and I were not getting along. It was my fault, I know that now. I was difficult and unsupportive. I told him if he didn't like things, he could leave. And he did. And I didn’t stop him. It was the worst mistake I ever made.” She told them, ashamed.

”You didn’t go look for him?” Emma sounded suspicious and Willa cheered silently in her head. This whole thing just seemed so… suspect. 

”I assumed he’d left town all this time. And now I know why I never heard from him. Now I get to do what I've wanted to do forever – say I’m sorry. Now we get a second chance.” The woman looked so happy, relieved, at the prospect.

”Which you don’t deserve.” Willa mumbled angrily, though the only one who heard her was Henry, who nodded with her.

”That’s wonderful.” Mary Margaret tried to sound happy for her, but it came out slightly strangled. Kathryn didn’t notice though. Probably because Dr Whale exited the examination room.

”Well, it’s something of a miracle.” He said, somewhat dumbfounded.

”He’s okay?” Kathryn asked eagerly.

”Ah, physically, he’s on the mend, um, his memory is another issue. It may take time, if at all.” He was precise and detached, like any doctor.

”What brought him back?” Mary Margaret asked, having been wondering about that since she first realised he had woken up. Something, deep inside of her that she barely acknowledged, told her it was her doing. She stubbornly pushed it down before the thought managed to manifest itself properly. There’s no such thing as True Love. 

”That’s the thing.” Dr Whale exhaled, annoyed at his own lack of knowledge. ”There’s no explanation. Something just clicked in him.”

”What?” Emma scoffed, unbelieving. ”He just got up and decided to go for a stroll?”

”Maybe he was sick of lying in bed all the time.” Willa speculated. ”Stretch his legs.”

”Highly unlikely.” Dr Whale told her, not unkindly. ”He woke up and he was delirious and his first instinct was to go find something, I guess.”

”Someone.” Henry whispered to Mary Margaret and Emma conspiringly. They both ignored him, refusing to even think about it.

”Can I see him?” The wife asked, looking an appropriate mix of eager and worried. Dr Whale said that she could and she didn’t stick around to even say ”bye”. 

”Henry.” Regina gestured to her wayward son. ”Let’s go.”

”Wait, my backpack.” He headed back, grabbed his pack and then whispered to Mary Margaret. ”Don’t believe them, you’re the one he was looking for.”

”Henry…” She sighed.

”He was going to the Troll Bridge. It’s like the end of the story.” He explained eagerly, not noticing or not caring about his mother’s angry stare from the door.

”Henry, he was going there because it’s the last thing I read to him.” Mary Margaret tried to explain to him but he wasn’t listening.

”No, it’s because you belong together.” He sounded so sure.

”Henry!” Regina’d had enough and half-dragged him out the door. Willa watched as Emma followed but stayed behind with her friend. 

”You okay?” She asked quietly. 

Mary Margaret heaved a heavy sigh and turned to look at her. ”Yes, of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

”No reason.” She said, deciding to let her friend keep her small delusions for now.

”Come on, it’s time to head home.”

The walk home was one made in silence. Willa was busy thinking about the day’s events and Mary Margaret was busy not thinking about them. 

”I’ll put the kettle on.” Willa announced as soon as they had closed the door behind them. She tore off her outer wear, tossing her jacket aside as if it was garbage, making her roommate sigh resignedly and pick it off the floor after her. 

She flittered through the kitchen, digging out teacups and spoons and what-have-you’s. She managed to scrounge up some cookies on a serving plate and dug out the milk from where it had hidden itself behind yesterday’s leftovers. By the time Mary Margaret had undressed and sat down at the kitchen island the only thing missing was the actual tea.

”You’re in a mood.” She smiled softly at her, accepting the mug handed to her.

”I know.” Willa nodded, her gaze staring out in the distance before coming back in focus. ”Don’t know why.”

Mary Margaret narrowed her eyes suspiciously. ”Have you had any candy today, by any chance?”

”Candy, what candy?” Willa asked before perking up. ”There’s candy?”

Mary Margaret hummed at her, still watching her closely. 

”What?” Willa shifted nervously. ”I haven’t done anything!”

”I know you haven’t.”

”Then why are you looking at me like that?”

”Like what?” Mary Margaret donned her ’don’t look at me, I’m innocent’ - look. 

”Like you want me to confess.” Willa grumbled. She hated that look, somehow she always caved. 

”No, it’s just… you were so quiet earlier, somber even. And now… it’s like you’ve consumed half your weight in chocolate and now you’re running on a sugar high.” She mused. ”Just trying to figure out why.”

”There’s no why.” Willa shrugged. ”Just… a feeling.”

”What kind of feeling?” The water boiler gave out a shrill screech, signalling it was done, and Willa took it off the stove and poured into their cups. 

”I don’t know.” She answered distractedly. ”Like, like something is changing. Something big. Only, it’s happening so slowly that no one is noticing. Like the clock tower.”

Mary Margaret starting stirring her cup with her spoon absentmindedly. ”What about the clock tower?”

”Well…” Willa stopped, trying to figure out how to put it. ”Can you remember it moving before? I mean, it must have, at some point, right? But I can’t remember it. And now it does. And John Doe, David, he’s been comatose for what? How many years? And now he’s awake, just like that.”

”I’m sure those are just coincidences.” Mary Margaret shrugged, not really seeing it.

”But it’s not just that, though. It’s… it’s like… I feel awake.” Willa huffed in annoyance with herself. Why was it so difficult?

”Well, I sure hope so.” She laughed. ”You are awake, after all.”

”No, I mean… it’s like I’ve been sleeping, except not really. Like my life a few years ago, months even, never felt so… so, alive. Like a dream, and now it feels like the world is getting clearer somehow.” Willa sighed. ”You know?”

”Can’t say I do, no.” Mary Margaret told her earnestly.

”Agh, never mind. It’s a feeling, okay. Like something’s changing.” She stuffed a cookie into her mouth almost angrily. Then she paused, her gaze yet again losing its focus as she was thinking about something. 

Mary Margaret simply let her be. She’d seen that look several times before and knew better than to try and interact with her friend while she was in that state. She sipped her tea and nibbled on her oatmeal chocolate chip cookie and waited.And sure enough…

”I know.” Willa snapped to it and looked at her with a grin. ”It’s like when you wake up and feel excited because something is going to happen that day, only you don’t remember what because you’re not fully awake yet. Those few seconds it takes before you remember. That feeling. It’s like that.”

Mary Margaret couldn’t help but smile at Willa’s triumphant grin, like she’d finally passed a huge hurdle and was really proud of herself.

”That’s what you’re feeling, right now?” She asked and took another sip of her tea.

”Yep.” She nodded eagerly. ”Only I don’t know why. But I’m sure whatever it is, it’ll be spectacular.”

”One can only hope.” Mary Margaret nodded in faux seriousness.

They would have kept at it but there was a knock on the door, making them stop chatting at both turn to look at the clock.

”Bit late for visitors.” Willa mumbled before smiling. ”Which means it must be something interesting.”

”I’ll get it.” Mary Margaret got up and headed for the door. She wasn’t sure what exactly she’d been expecting but it took her by surprise to see who the late-night visitor was. ”Emma.”

Willa could feel her grin widening. She knew it, just knew it. Something was happening.

”Sorry to bother you so late. Is that spare room still available?” 

Oh, yes. Definitely happening. And it would be… spectacular.


End file.
